Soapbox:

Regeneration turns retrograde

By Khalil El-Anani

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Reform, which concerns all Egyptians, has come to seem the prerogative of particular parties. Factional calculations increasingly govern the handling of the issue.

The NDP, seeking to monopolise reform, dealt its masterstroke, the initiative amending the constitution to allow for the first ever multi-candidate presidential elections, then followed with a raft of legislation regulating elections, political parties and the exercise of political rights. Officials claimed this as a remarkable achievement, and it would appear, some think, the reward for this breakthrough should be gratitude, not opposition.

This attitude stems from a belief that these measures are a generous concession by the government rather than a timely and necessary discharge of its obligations. In practical terms such an attitude diminishes the positive aura created by the steps, suggesting they are as far as the government is prepared to go.

The opposition, on the other hand, regards the measures as insufficient, as no more than window dressing, ploys to promote the status quo. Long used to extracting political capital from the prevailing stagnation the opposition was surprised by the boldness of the government's moves. After years of demanding rotation of authority they were suddenly faced with the possibility that it might actually be within reach. In their shock they showed themselves unable to order the new hand they had been dealt and took refuge in calls for a boycott, forfeiting the opportunity to turn the momentum behind reform to their advantage.

What applies to the opposition parties applies also to the Muslim Brotherhood. It has failed to develop a pragmatic vision capable of capitalising on calls for reform to generate a more inclusive democratic climate.

It was the Egyptian Movement for Change, Kifaya, that first dispelled indifference and apathy and raised the level of popular expectations. Yet Kifaya remains more a manifestation of a social phenomenon than a political movement with an organisational framework.

Given the above it is, sadly, all too possible that the reform process will become a kind of hollow edifice, a mill without wheat.

This week's Soapbox speaker is a writer and political analyst.