Are youth movements that launched the Egyptian revolution still united? Mohamed Abdel-Baky reports For four months, the Youth Revolution Coalition (YRC) had remained united in facing the challenges of the revolution keeping disagreements to itself behind closed doors and never leaking news to the media. But recently the 6 April youth movement, which was a member of the YRC, announced its withdrawal from the coalition after one of the coalition's members in a press conference talked about divisions inside the 6 April movement concerning funding and its future. "We consider what happened interference in the movement's internal affairs, which is not acceptable as it targets our unity as a movement. This is a red line," Ahmed Maher, the leader of 6 April, said. YRC is one of seven unions which were formed during the revolution that began on 25 January and which ousted Hosni Mubarak as president. It includes 6 April, Youth for Freedom and Justice, the El-Baradei Campaign, the Muslim Brotherhood Youth Group, the Democratic Front's youth group and the National Association for Change. A few weeks ago, the Youth for Freedom and Justice hosted several members of 6 April, led by Tarek El-Kholi and Amr Ezzat, at a press conference in the Press Syndicate to announce their rejection of Maher's proposal to transform the movement into a lobby, or civil, organisation. "We reject turning 6 April into an NGO or a lobby group. It would affect our credibility and the important role the movement played in the transition," El-Kholi said, reading a statement at the press conference. El-Kholi said that many members were against Maher's proposal "because it violates the mission's statement and the vision of the movement," adding that many of these members are calling for a transparent election within the movement within 60 days "to choose a new leader who would represent everybody, not only Maher." 6 April was established in April 2008 to support textile workers in the industrial town of Mahalla Al-Kobra who staged strikes to demand higher wages and better working conditions. They were the first group to use Facebook to urge the public to take action against deteriorating living conditions, organising a campaign of civil disobedience in April 2008. They called for more strikes on Labour Day, becoming one of the main players behind the 25 January Revolution. "If Maher's group wants to create a lobby, they can but we, 6 April, will remain a political youth movement," El-Kholi said. Along with other members, El-Kholi said the intention behind transforming the movement is to be allowed to legally receive funds from foreign sources which, the movement says, undermines its credibility and integrity. In response, 6 April held a press conference in its new downtown headquarters claiming the YRC was supporting division instead of backing 6 April. The movement decided to dismiss members who held the press conference and called for a split. Maher told Al-Ahram Weekly that transforming the movement to a civil organisation was only an idea among others under consideration, but that a decision had never been made. He added that such a decision would not be taken until it received the approval of the majority of the movement's members through democratic means. "For the last two months the YRC has been out of the political game and distanced itself from the public. There is a big gap now between the Egyptian people and YRC and now they are supporting the division within the 6 April movement," said Maher. YRC leaders said in statement that Maher was not representing 6 April in the coalition and had been acting on his own since the revolution started. The coalition decided to support Kholi and Ezzat who are "committed" to the ideas and agenda of the YRC. The 6 April movement is still an active member in the coalition and the withdrawal "means nothing", according to Shadi El-Ghazali Harb, a senior member in YRC. Harb said that YRC has been a major player in Egyptian politics after the revolution in protecting its goals and pushing to hold the Mubarak regime accountable. "Several times Maher's group called for protests without coordinating with the YRC, which affected our image in the eyes of public opinion," Harb said. Since March, several members within 6 April have expressed concern about the future of the movement. Some argued that being a movement without any legal legitimacy could in the end result in its disappearance from the street. A report published by some members of 6 April in March argued that in time, youth movements will cease to exist after losing momentum following the realisation of the revolution's goals. The report said the movement cannot be a political party because it has no specific ideology -- like liberalism or socialism -- and that it has been acting as an advocacy group more than a political party. The report recommended that all the movements should be registered as civil society organisations to be protected by the law and be able to collect funds for their activities, similar to groups in the West, and in the US specifically, including the Move Now organisation and AIPAC. The movement's main role according to the report is to lobby for the interests of Egyptians and lead awareness campaigns of their rights.
