Kifaya returns to street activism and proves it is still very much alive and kicking, Mohamed El-Sayed reports Hardly a week in 2005 passed without a demonstration or a strike organised by the Egyptian Movement for Change (Kifaya), either in Cairo or in other key Egyptian governorates. For this was the movement that was responsible for staging the first-ever anti-President Hosni Mubarak demonstration in December 2004, paving the way for a series of demonstrations and events protesting his ultimately successful attempts to seek a fifth term in office. Indeed, before then, such public opposition to the president was unheard of as the regime, helped by a 25-year-old emergency law, had shown little, if any, inclination to tolerate any form of dissent. Since its creation in the autumn of 2004, the movement left no occasion but seized to publicly express its slogan: "No to a new term for Mubarak, and no to the inheritance of power" by his son Gamal . But over the past two months the movement has been suspiciously absent from the public sphere, having stopped organising street demonstrations or strikes of any kind. Many observers speculated about the demise of the movement and the role it had come to play. But last week Kifaya returned to its organisation of street activism, launching three demonstrations in downtown Cairo, Heliopolis and Cairo University. The first demonstration was denouncing the by now infamous Danish cartoons slandering the Prophet Mohamed. The second was held before the Heliopolis headquarters of Al-Salam Marine Transportation Company, the owner of the Al-Salam Boccaccio 98 ferry that sank in the Red Sea earlier this month, claiming the lives of at least 1,000 passengers. The last one was organised in front of Cairo University on Tuesday to mark International Students' Day. But political analysts and competing pro-reform groups have nevertheless continued to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the movement, citing its absence from the political scene over the last weeks as evidence of its steady demise. The movement's spokesman and firebrand journalist Abdel-Halim Qandil begged to differ with such arguments. "The absence of the movement during the last two months was a time to reflect on what we achieved so far and to draw up a future plan of action," he said. He added that the movement held its first conference in January to do some "soul- searching. In a search for the movement's identity, we tried to find answers to three questions: what is the purpose of the change the movement seeks? What is the scenario of this change? And who will trigger this change?" Other pundits, however, argue that the movement's demise came in the wake of parliamentary elections that saw the emergence of the Muslim Brotherhood as a street force to be reckoned with, while the spark that had thrust Kifaya into the limelight was beginning to fade. The rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, many say, took the bulk of local and international attention after it secured 88 seats in parliament. "The Muslim Brotherhood has been a deeply-rooted political force since its inception," said Qandil. He stressed that its rise "doesn't in any way negatively affect Kifaya, since there is a dialogue and mutual understanding between us. Both of us almost have the same agenda." Because the movement failed to achieve its main initial goal -- that of preventing Mubarak's re-election and hampering the inheritance of power to Gamal, which, according to many, is going ahead -- Qandil did not deny that many members of the movement suffered from "understandable frustration. Yes, we lost battle against the re- election of Mubarak, but we still have the battle against the inheritance of power to fight. We aim at triggering a peaceful, civil Intifada to achieve change. This is the essence of our existence, and that's why we returned to and will never cease to organise street demonstrations," he said. "And as long as this danger [of succession by Gamal Mubarak] is looming over the country, the movement will not cease to exist, and will remain alive and kicking," he added. But only time will tell whether Kifaya will attain its goals or remain stuck in an eternal cycle, one which could be likened to waiting for Godot.
