Well, almost, finds Amira Howeidy, as she speaks with key figures in the United National Front for Change Several hundred intellectuals, public figures and politicians crammed into the second floor hall of a four-star hotel in Giza on Monday, invited to iftar by the would-be Wassat Party. After breakfast came the speeches. When his turn came Abdel-Rahman Yosuf, a 35 year-old poet better known for his radical anti-government line, looked around him and noted that the guests at this political iftar had been drawn from across Egypt's political spectrum. "All these people," he said, "have one thing in common. They are against one man." The hall burst into applause. This year Ramadan iftar banquets have emerged as important political occasions, certainly when it comes to gauging the mood of the opposition ahead of November's parliamentary elections. And the Wassat iftar -- attended by key political figures from the far right -- the Muslim Brotherhood's Abdel-Meneim Abul-Fotouh -- to the far left -- Tagammu's Hussein Abdel-Razek -- clearly demonstrated that opposition and independent groups are increasingly focused on a single objective as they attempt to bury long-standing animosities in the hope of uniting to challenge the regime. The latest initiative to this end, the United National Front for Change (UNFC), was announced last Saturday amid much fanfare at the Wafd Party's headquarters. According to UNFC spokesman, Wafd Party president Noaman Gomaa, the front will contest parliamentary elections with "a unified list" following coordination between its component groups. With the exception of Ayman Nour's Ghad Party -- excluded because of ongoing disputes between its members, and perhaps because of Al-Wafd's reservations on Nour -- the front has managed to unite all of Egypt's major political groupings under a single umbrella, bringing together 11 parties and opposition groups. They include the Wafd, Tagammu and Nasserist opposition parties, the frozen Labour Party, the would-be Wassat and Karama parties, the Egyptian Movement for Change (Kifaya), the Popular Campaign for Change (Freedom Now), the National Coalition for Democratic Transformation and the National Alliance for Reform and Change. Gomaa was chosen as the front's spokesman and Aziz Sidqi -- who served as minister of industry under Gamal Abdel-Nasser and prime minister under Anwar El-Sadat -- as its general representative. Two committees, one charged with devising the front's political agenda and legal framework, the second with liaising between its various members in order to agree on a single list of candidates, have already been established. The front is the largest coalition yet to emerge between political parties and the various movements for change which have sprung up in the last 12 months on the heels of the anti-Mubarak Kifaya. Its broadly-based membership is undoubtedly impressive and could well prove a strength. It could equally turn out to be a weakness as the front's various components pursue separate agendas. For Tagammu secretary-general Hussein Abdel-Razek the front is a long-term project that aims to secure "the future of Egypt" and not a one-off electoral alliance. Hassan Nafaa, professor of political science at Cairo University and deputy president of the National Coalition for Democratic Transformation, formed last June, offers a broader view. The front's primary objective, he told Al-Ahram Weekly, is "for its various members to coordinate in the coming November elections". Such coordination, he believes, will help "remove the mutual mistrust between opposition factions, strengthen their ties and thus create a democratic alternative [to the regime]". Egypt's main political parties, says Nafaa, have lost a great deal of public respect because of their inability to come up with credible reform strategies. "There is a great deal of narrow-mindedness among political forces and this threatened the creation of the front," he said, referring to the bitter antagonism between the Tagammu and the Muslim Brotherhood. "If the Brotherhood had more politically-conscious members," says Nafaa, "it would realise the importance of presenting a united front in the elections. When it is known that a candidate represents the coalition, and not just his own political group or party, he will attract greater attention and this, in many ways, acts as a form of protection." In the last parliamentary elections, held in 2000, the Brotherhood claims security forces arrested 6,000 of its members, including several candidates. Despite the clampdown the illegal group won 17 seats, making it the largest opposition bloc. The Wafd won seven seats, Tagammu six and the Nasserists two. But Nafaa does not reserve his criticisms for the Brotherhood. Tagammu leader Refaat Said, suggests Nafaa, in resisting the inclusion of the Brotherhood, could also have thwarted the formation of the front. "Some opposition factions," he says, "are unfortunately serving government interests". The Brotherhood's election list, which includes over 150 candidates, was finalised months ago, says Abul-Fotouh, something that will make complete coordination with the rest of the front's candidates difficult. While Kifaya, Wassat, the Popular Campaign for Change (Freedom Now), the National Coalition for Democratic Transformation and the National Alliance for Reform and Change will not be fielding candidates, the Wafd, Tagammu, Nasserist, Karama and Labour parties will. A meeting between these groups was scheduled for Tuesday evening to compile a list that will then be compared with the Brotherhood's as part of the coordination process. "Coordination," says Abul-Fotouh, "is a wonderful idea but in practice it will be complicated. We tried it in 1984 and 1987, when the alliances entered into with other parties took at least three months to finalise." That said, the Weekly has learned that the Brotherhood has already withdrawn its candidate from the Dokki constituency to make room for Cairo University law professor Yehia El-Gamal to stand. Even if the front does succeed in agreeing on a final list, it is unlikely, says Nafaa, to field candidates in all 222 constituencies. And in constituencies where candidates do stand they anticipate many problems. "We expect the NDP to engage in mass rigging," says Abul-Fotouh. "If we win 30 or 35 seats in parliament it will be a good result." And then what will happen to the front? "Reform, not elections, should be the front's goal. For that it must agree on a common platform, constitution and frame of reference that is civil [rather than Islamic]. I don't know how that is going to happen," says Tagammu's Abdel-Razek.
