The 6 April co-founder Amr Ali, a longtime member of the movement's organisational committee, won 55 per cent of votes cast in elections to decide Ahmed Maher's replacement, beating Fadi Al-Masri who secured 45 per cent. Following the election Al-Masri pledged to support Ali in the group's campaigns. Maher, who has led the movement since it was founded, did not stand for re-election. He is expected to become a member of the advisory board that the 6 April movement intends to elect soon. The movement emerged in 2008 as a coalition of youth activists who supported the struggles of workers in the Nile Delta's Mahalla province. It soon developed into one of the Mubarak era's leading opposition movements. In recent years, though, it has been subjected to a campaign of vilification by the authorities and press which began under the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) after it took over following Hosni Mubarak's overthrow. Ali announced that though plans are afoot to regain lost credibility “the group's basics and principals will remain.” “We plan to collaborate with other youth movements in order to play an influential role in the transitional period,” he said. The movement will not be fielding candidates in forthcoming parliamentary elections, says Ali, and has no desire to become a political party. It will, however, back candidates committed to the goals of Egypt's revolution. Conceding that the group had lately become embroiled in internal conflict Ali argued that “the confusion was not limited to 6 April”. “The street has been deeply polarised in the recent transitional phase,” he said, “and this has an inevitable impact on revolutionary and political forces.” The new leader denies media reports alleging that 6 April plans to coordinate with the Muslim Brotherhood to organise a protest to mark the second anniversary of clashes in Mohamed Mahmoud Street during which dozens of protesters were killed by security forces. According to the CV published on the movement's Facebook page, 30-year-old Ali is a business and administration graduate currently employed by the Egyptian International Schools Group. The Menoufiya-born activist joined the youth movement in June 2008 following the launch of the “April Strike” Facebook page. He was responsible for the group's public relations from September 2009 to August 2011 and served as a member of its political office from September 2011 until October 2013. During the early days of the 2011 revolution Ali was detained by military police during a raid on the Hisham Mubarak Centre for Human Rights. “We believe in the peaceful transfer of power. The movement wants to be a model for all political parties and for the government in terms of democratic and transparent elections,” says Mohamed Kamal, spokesperson for a 6 April Facebook group which hailed Ali as the leading force behind the group's policy of non-violence. Since it emerged at the forefront of protests that led to Mubarak's overthrow the movement has had ups and downs. In 2011 SCAF launched a smear campaign against the group, accusing it of accepting foreign funds in return for fomenting strife between the army and the people. SCAF also accused the group of instigating violent clashes. The movement has several times invited the prosecutor-general to investigate its activities and sources of funding. No evidence has ever been presented to back the campaign of smears and innuendo. The youth movement has also faced internal problems. In April 2011 a statement posted on Facebook and signed by a group calling itself “the Democratic Front” heralded the appearance of a splinter group. Though Maher's supporters claim to represent the mainstream of the movement founded in 2008, the Democratic Front, headed by Tarek Al-Kholi, has become increasingly vocal and claims to represent the original aims of the group. The rifts provoked by the two-year-old conflict appeared to be further compounded when Mahmoud Afifi, official spokesman for the Maher faction, split from the movement, citing Maher's management style as the reason for his departure. “We call upon all members who left the group or who split to rejoin us, we are ready to correct any mistakes that we have made and we ask them to help us,” said Maher in a press conference held after the elections.
