Against the odds

By Sayed El-Bahrawi

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The judges have put their foot down. Driven by integrity and determined to maintain its status as the conscience of the nation, our judiciary has made it clear that it accepts nothing less than full independence. The judges' uprising has galvanised opposition and troubled the regime. Even the regime's usual supporters in the media have been too embarrassed to defend the government. Many have taken the side of the judges. Some have even denounced the state for its arbitrary acts.

Over the past few weeks, the tone of the media has changed. Judging by what one reads in the media, one would think that this is a country teetering on the edge of revolt. Wrong again. We're not even close. The writing is on the wall, and yet the wall is not about to fall. Discontent runs deep. Disillusion is everywhere. The poor have never been as alienated as they are now. Even the rich are dissatisfied. And yet we lack the means for change.

The government is doing all it can to maintain the status quo. And the opposition is too weak to turn things around. Even the Muslim Brotherhood is bending over backwards to appease the government. And for all the disenchantment you see in this country, the regime is stable. It is being guarded with armies of soldiers and legions of hack writers. What you see in this country is not Western- style liberal capitalism, far from it. Ours is a regime beholden to foreign backers and manipulated by racketeers, money launderers and disreputable powerbrokers.

The judges will not get their independence, nor will the opposition see real reform, not under this regime. Things are going to change, but when? Nobody knows.

This week's Soapbox speaker is a professor of literature at Cairo University.