Al-Ahram Weekly | Profile | Ahmed Maher: Action for a new Egypt

Ahmed Maher is the founder and coordinator of the 6 April Youth Movement. Nominated for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, the movement is regarded as one of the world's most peaceful resistance movements today. Maher speaks to Al-Ahram Weekly about the movement's foundation and development, and charts its future course on Egypt's political map

Maher, 31, is a graduate of Zagazig University's Faculty of Engineering -- at the time located in the Cairo district of Shubra. Growing angry with the higher education system and policies governing the labour market, his life started to change. He saw chaos, poor planning and disorder governing the streets of the capital -- he specialised in urban planning during his faculty years.

Driven by a desire to participate in political change, Maher tells Al-Ahram Weekly that the problem with Zagazig University was that its only politically active group was the Muslim Brotherhood who "focussed their demonstrations on regional and international issues, such as the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the American occupation of Iraq." He continued, "rarely did they protest against the Egyptian regime. That was when I envisioned forming a movement to criticise the policies of the regime."

Maher had joined the Kifaya movement in 2004. A year later, he left Kifaya to pursue his dream of forming the Youth for Change Movement. "Kifaya had a very strong and impressive start, but its leaders resorted to the traditional means of protestation, like demonstrating in downtown Cairo." This, to Maher, was a futile approach, what with the security forces' heavy crackdown and use of excessive violence to nip demonstrations in the bud.

The first time Maher was detained was in July 2005. A few months after his release he was arrested again for three months for demonstrating in Tahrir Square against the rule of former president Hosni Mubarak. That was when he realised that, with arbitrary arrests and brutal violence, he needed to come up with a different means of protesting.

"I resorted to the Internet. I set up a blog in order to criticise the regime. By 2006, labour sit-ins, protests and strikes had increased. I thought it would be a better idea to join forces with the angry workers. Their demands and my political aims are one."

On 6 April 2008, strikes led by state-run textile factory workers erupted in the industrial city of Mahalla Al-Koubra in protest at low wages. 6 April members supported the Mahalla strikes in more ways than one.

Utilising social media networks like Facebook, blogs, YouTube, e-mails and SMS messages, the movement promoted the strikes all over the nation. The message conveyed by the movement to the public read: "On 6 April, stay home, do not go out. Do not go to work, do not go to university. We need better salaries. We want our children to get better education, we need better public transport, hospitals and medicine for our children. We need a just judicial system and security, we want freedom and dignity, and we want apartments for youth. We do not want prices to increase, we do not want favouritism, we do not want torture in police stations, we do not want corruption, we do not want bribes, and we do not want detentions. Tell your friends not to go to work and ask them to join the strike."

The slogan of the strike was "Stay Home", and its organisers called on participants and sympathisers to wear black on that day. The movement used the raised fist as its symbol.

Meant to protest against the deteriorating living conditions of Egyptians, the movement invited all across the social spectrum to join the strike. The day was intended to be a loud cry of anger, a step on the path of civil disobedience to pressure the regime, in a peaceful way, to carry out reform.

To the surprise of many, the strike was a success. Thousands of Egyptians heeded the call and stayed home. There was considerable response from school and university students, as well as from employees in various public institutions. That day, the streets, nationwide, were empty.

The success of the 6 April strike was, in part, the result of tremendous effort exerted by the movement. On 23 March 2008, Maher had met with Israa Abdel-Fattah, another Nobel Peace Prize nominee for 2011. Together they created a Facebook group calling for a general strike on 6 April. "This became Egypt's first Facebook group that dared to challenge the regime," Maher recounts. "We just wrote that we are a group of young people who refuse the deteriorating living standards, corruption and inflation. We went on to suggest that we could together find a way to do something about it. This period coincided with an unprecedented rise in inflation which affected, most of all, the price of basic commodities. This encouraged many young people who had no previous political inclinations to participate. Within a few hours of setting up the Facebook group, we had almost 3,000 participants. Within 10 days, there were 70,000."

The group was by no means exempt from state retaliation. In fact, Abdel-Fattah and another group member were arrested on 6 April. Maher managed to hide for a month. "I had to escape because Abdel-Fattah and I were the group's only administrators. As she was in detention, I had to follow up on our work while mobilising more people. During that period, I slept most nights in my car in one of the city's suburban areas, while I spent my days at cafés with Internet facilities," Maher recalls.

When Maher was arrested a month later, on 6 May 2008, he was "taken to the State Security, without prior interrogation, where I was tortured continuously for three days."

"The officers were very angry that I had managed to escape from them for a whole month. They questioned me about every detail regarding the group. They said I was incapable of realising the negative repercussions of my actions, and how dangerous they were, given that they could have ruined the state."

A month later, activists including Maher demonstrated in front of the Press Syndicate, downtown Cairo. They were attacked by the Central Security Forces. In July, Maher broke all traditional methods of demonstration. Together with other 6 April members, he travelled to Alexandria gathering onlookers as they stood at the Corniche singing the national anthem for hours. The activists were then surrounded by the Central Security Forces, and while some of them managed to escape, many others were arrested, including Maher's brother.

By 2009, 6 April members on Facebook grew to reach hundreds of thousands. It was time for Maher and his associates to dream bigger. Talks involved a more organised, far reaching political movement with bigger goals to achieve.

The dream, however, soon proved difficult to come true. "The number of active members on the ground was quite small, especially after I published footage on YouTube showing my injuries following my torture at the hands of the State Security," Maher told the Weekly.

Nevertheless, Maher didn't run out of fresh ideas to challenge the regime. "We mobilised group members everywhere to speak to the people in various governorates, universities, districts and remote areas."

The activist was well aware that such an approach was perilous, contrary to the safer realms of the Internet. And yes, in the course of this move, many movement members were detained and tortured, according to Maher.

Meanwhile, rather than focussing demonstrations on downtown Cairo, "we decided to demonstrate in residential areas and to distribute pamphlets expressing our dissent against the regime. With every protest we organised, at least three members of the 6 April Movement were arrested. State Security officials were extremely violent with our members, not to mention the arbitrary firing of the movement's members from their jobs. I have been fired from more than one job, after telephone calls from officials to my bosses recommended that I be fired. Student members were similarly expelled from their universities," Maher regrets.

In a bid to distract the security forces from clamping down on every protest, the 6 April Movement would frequently announce they were about to hold a demonstration in a given area, and then actually protest in a different one.

On 6 April 2010, a demonstration held in Tahrir Square saw almost 4,000 demonstrators take part. "That day, the police forces used extreme violence, to an extent I had never seen before. A huge number of demonstrators were severely beaten or arrested and tortured. I became certain that demonstrating in downtown Cairo would not work out again," Maher told the Weekly.

However, the real problem for Maher at that time was not so much the fact that the movement's members faced such violence, but rather, that the movement's impact on the streets was not really that profound. Therefore, alongside other movement members, Maher started to read more books, essays, theses, political analysis and research, while watching more documentaries, with the aim of getting better acquainted with other political movements' success stories, focussing on the developing world, in order to understand how they managed to beat their oppressive regimes.

Perhaps all the plans, techniques and experiences gained by the movement helped lay the ground for the 25 January Revolution. In contrast with the commonly held belief that the revolution erupted haphazardly, in Maher's view it was still somehow planned. The 6 April Movement, together with the Democratic Front Party, the Muslim Brotherhood Youth, the Socialist Union Youth, the Campaign to Support Mohamed El-Baradei, and Wael Ghoneim, the administrator of the famous Facebook group "We are all Khaled Said," all came together to plan for that day's events.

"We frequently met at a café, or at the headquarters of the Democratic Front Party, or at that of the Campaign to Support El-Baradei," said Maher. "We decided to dissipate the security forces all over Cairo and the governorates so as to weaken them rather than concentrate on Tahrir Square."

Maher went on to explain that the political forces called on the public to demonstrate in all the main squares in Egypt. They also distracted the security forces by announcing that the demonstrations would start at 2pm, whereas they actually began at 12pm. By the time the police reached the main squares, they were surprised by the huge turnout.

Before 25 January, Maher added, the movements distributed more than half a million pamphlets calling for regime change. "We were almost sure that we would die on 25 January," Maher said. Instead, the success of the day enabled the preparation of more protests on 28 January.

The participation of both the Muslim Brotherhood, incorporating the youth wing as well as the more regular membership, and Ultras, which brings together the Zamalek and Ahly fans, gave more strength to protests on 28 January.

"That day was like a dream. While planning for 25 January, we had a feeling that this time it would work out, and that these demonstrations would be different, unique and huge. We were almost certain that they might lead to a revolution."

The 6 April founder recites the factors that helped the revolution to materialise, and these included the Tunisian uprising which inspired hope and courage in Egyptians, dissatisfaction with the regime's performance, the forging of the parliamentary elections and the bomb explosion at the Two Saints Church in Alexandria which resulted in the arrest of Said Bilal who died after his arrest and torture by the police. The number of labour protests, strikes and sit- ins was also on the increase.

Amid the optimism, Maher sees the departure of demonstrators from Tahrir Square after 11 February as disastrous. "A revolutionary council should have been formed prior to 11 February, so as to plan for what was to come afterwards." Maher attributes this fatal error to the fact that strong political forces, capable of planning for the future, are almost absent in Egypt.

From Maher's point of view, the first and easiest phase in the revolution has been achieved, namely the ouster of Mubarak. However, changing the regime needs enormous effort and much time. "All the revolutions in history ended up with the revolutionaries taking power; however in Egypt, it was the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces [SCAF] that took over, thereby hijacking the revolution."

Maher added that, "the ruling SCAF does not want to change the former establishment because it is part of that system. The SCAF is making the same mistakes of the Mubarak regime, and adopting the same methods to run the state while holding on to power."

"Therefore, I believe that the next wave of revolution will be directed against the SCAF," Maher emphasises.

Maher says that, in the immediate aftermath of 11 February, "the movement trusted the SCAF, and respected its wish to slow down the pace of demonstrations, labour protests and sit- ins for a while, so as to give the SCAF and the government a chance to make progress."

"Now, after nine months had passed, we don't see any progress, some things are even getting worse. This is because the SCAF refuses to eradicate the corrupt system from its roots. Most former ministerial deputies and local officials who have long been corrupt are still in power. As a result, we are demanding that the SCAF and the government conduct an evaluation in order to render the new powers accountable for their rule over the past nine months. If they are honest, they will see that both the SCAF and the government need to relinquish rule immediately," Maher insists.

"The fear-mongering state security apparatus is still using its former methods. Only the name has changed. Even Mubarak's trial is a farce because he is being tried for owning five villas in Sharm El-Sheikh," Maher said.

Maher doesn't think the SCAF is necessarily planning to hand over power, and he sees "the increasing use of violence against peaceful protesters and the same means of suppression experienced under the former regime" as an ominous sign. Furthermore, "the demands and suggestions put forward by the 6 April Movement and the Youth Revolutionary Council were pushed under the rug. At the same time, the authorities keep on refusing suggestions of better-suited people for ministerial positions than the ones in power today."

On 23 July, many people, including prominent political figures, were surprised by the content of the SCAF's Communiqué number 69, which directly accused the 6 April Movement of inciting strife between the people and the army. The statement pointed out that while the SCAF continues to work on communicating with the Egyptian people and the revolutionary youth, with the aim of realising the legitimate demands of the 25 January Revolution, the private interests of some political movements with their own agendas were getting in the way.

Moreover, SCAF member Major General Hassan El-Rweini made televised declarations that the 6 April Movement was funded by foreign countries, that its members had fostered a foreign agenda and that they had been trained in Serbia.

In response to the accusations, Maher clarified to the Weekly that only one member of the movement had been to Serbia, when a group that had played an effective role in overthrowing the oppressive regime there announced that it was ready to host an activist. The movement submitted a proposal to the organisation, and was picked by the Serbian movement.

Meanwhile, 6 April submitted a request to the prosecutor-general's office, asking for the investigation of movement executive members' and activists' bank accounts and other properties in order to clear their names. In addition, another claim was submitted against El-Rweini, demanding he disclose the evidence proving that the movement had received foreign funding.

Maher defends the movement's legitimacy strongly. "We are actually in debt. Nevertheless, the SCAF continues to attack the movement through national and private satellite channels." He believes the reason why the SCAF is bent on attacking the 6 April Movement may be that it is the most powerful, impressive and well-known political movement, both in Egypt and worldwide.

"The movement has a huge following and solid credibility. When we call for a demonstration, people follow us. We were lucky because after the SCAF released its statement, we gained thousands, if not millions of new supporters," Maher said proudly.

From Maher's point of view, chances that the coming parliament will be truly representative are slim. "The SCAF refused to adopt any of the proposals for a decent electoral law submitted by political movements and scholars. Instead, the SCAF has insisted on holding on to its own vague and futile law. I believe that 40 per cent of the seats in the coming parliament will be seized by supporters and remnants of Mubarak's regime, who are now more organised than ever. If they do well, they will vote only for the laws serving their own interests. The SCAF, indeed, has fulfilled all their demands. They are allowed to form political parties, and launch satellite channels. Even the deal between the Islamists and the SCAF has come to a halt because of the dissatisfaction with the current election law."

To Maher, the SCAF played a key role in fostering differences between the country's political forces. "The SCAF held separate meetings with each of the political forces and parties, even bringing in some of the country's weakest parties," he noted.

What is clear to Maher is that Egypt's political forces need to develop a common vision. While there is no need to be unified in one coalition, they should at least agree on some basic principles in order to guide them through the coming phase.

Once a part of the Revolutionary Coalition's youth wing, the 6 April Movement broke up because, in Maher's view, his movement is a resistance movement which works with people in order to fulfil its goals on the ground, while the coalition plays politics.

Moreover, in Maher's view, there are ideological differences concerning crucial issues including the constitutional referendum. While the 6 April Movement was against amending the constitution, the youth of the Muslim Brotherhood were for it. Maher insists that while the 6 April Movement is on good terms with the Youth Revolutionary Coalition, he believes it is better for his movement to work separately, at least for the time being.

Regarding the future plans of the movement, Maher envisions 6 April as a lobbying watchdog group the purpose of which might be to monitor and put pressure on those in power. "We are currently monitoring the nominees to the People Assembly's, while preparing blacklists exposing Mubarak's supporters. We will later monitor MPs' performance in order to make sure that they will not misuse their power, while performing soundly and democratically," he added.

With membership exceeding 20,000, Maher still doesn't see the movement turning into a political party. "The revolution has not ended yet. 6 April is basically a resistance group, we do not want to indulge in political calculations."

"Resistance against the regime was easier before 11 February. We knew our enemy, its tools, and how to confront it. But now, confusion, vagueness and chaos are the order of the day. That does not mean that I am frustrated. On the contrary, I am optimistic that sooner or later, the goals of the revolution will be realised peacefully."