'3rd Current' launched to counter 'military, Islamist hegemony'

Egyptian activists launch 'Third Current' initiative with stated aim of defending personal rights, ensuring civil-democratic nature of state

At a press conference held Thursday at Cairo's Shepherd Hotel in downtown Cairo, a number of notable political figures launched what they described as the 'Third Current,' which aims to defend personal and political rights and uphold the state's civil-democratic nature.
The conference was attended by some 150 politicians and activists.
Mohamed Abul-Ghar, head of theEgyptian Social Democratic Party(ESDP), kicked off the event by stressing the need to form a "civil-democratic current" in opposition to perceived Islamist and military hegemony.
Officials from the campaigns of former presidential candidatesHamdeen SabbahiandKhaled Aliwere also present.
Calls for a 'third way' were first issued following the first round of Egypt's presidential elections last month, when several nationalist and revolutionary forces called on Sabbahi – who came in third place – to spearhead the initiative.
Reform campaigner and founder of the newly-launchedConstitution PartyMohamed ElBaradei also called for athird way this week to counter perceived Islamist-military control over Egypt's political scene.
"We have to remember that civil forces accounted for the majority of those who launched the revolution, along with the majority of martyrs who lost their lives for the sake of the country," Abul-Ghar said.
He added: "The 50 per cent of voters who abstained from casting ballots in the presidential elections are those we need to approach; those who voted neither for a military-backed former regime member nor an Islamist candidate."
ESDP MP Sameh Makram Ebeid warned that "too much time has passed for us to attempt to form this initiative; political forces have been largely caught up in forming political parties and getting bogged down in issues that divide us."
Ebeid said there were "three main battles" that would be fought in the upcoming period: the battle for a truly representative constitution, that over upcoming municipal council elections, and that over parliamentary elections expected to take place in six months.
Film producer and political activist Mohamed Adl, for his part, warned: "This is our last chance. If we don't learn from our many mistakes over the past year, we deserve what happens to us."
He added: "Leftist and liberal alliances aren't the defining factors at the moment; what we're concerned with is whether you are with or against tyranny – religious or military."
Independent liberal MPAmr Hamzawy, for his part,stressed that the main point of the initiative was to ensure that the "nation is based on the rule of law," stressing that the drafting of a new constitution currently represented "the most pressing struggle."
Neveine Ebeid, member of the New Woman Foundation, asserted that a return to the street and the mobilisation of the masses would ensure the initiative's success.
"The civil nature of the state is a red line!" stressed Abdel-Galil Mostafa, a member of the National Association for Change reform movement.
"We will not allow our dreams to be shattered. Our struggle to ensure a truly representative system continues, and will continue, despite Mohamed Morsi's electoral victory," Mostafa added. "We're against a fascist military system and, likewise, an Islamist state."
Abul-Ghar concluded the event by announcing that a series of meetings would be held next week to form 'Third Current' coordination committees.
Other prominent figures present at Thursday's meeting included ESDP MPs Ziad Bahaa Eddin, Farid Zahran and Ehab El-Kharrat; the Egyptian Socialist Party's Karima Hefnawy; the Egyptian Doctors Syndicate's Mona Mina; Kefaya movement founder George Ishaq; author Bahaa Taher; former culture minister Emad Abu-Ghazi; and actresses Basma and Tayseer Fahmy.
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