The 25 January Revolution is not free from internal contradictions, some of which may turn out to be no less dangerous for its future than the counter-revolution itself. During the revolution, a well- informed vanguard led the way with admirable skill. They kept the revolution on the right track and were not deceived by the piecemeal concessions of the former president. But the revolution doesn't belong to the youth alone. What made the revolution a success is that it attracted many Egyptians from various ages and backgrounds. It was the massive popular support that made the 25 January protests different from earlier ones. As the head of the regime and his top aides clung tenaciously to power, the army stepped in, protecting the protesters and getting the former president to step down. Some youth think that the revolution is theirs and theirs alone. But the revolution belongs to all of us. It would make sense, however, for the vanguard of the revolution to become integrated into decision-making in the new order, but this hasn't been easy for several reasons. One is the lack of cohesive leadership of the youth. One keeps hearing of groups such as the Revolutionary Youth Coalition, the Board of Trustees, the Executive Office of the Revolution, etc. It is hard to keep track of all of these groups, let alone figure out their position. One yearns for the time when the revolutionary youth, who belonged to different organisations, acted in unison. Now we have dozens of alliances coming out in a scene that lacks cohesion and strong organisation. That's why the revolutionary youth is having trouble participating in power. In the 1952 Revolution, the Free Officers, united and cohesive as they were, began implementing their programme right away. The agricultural reform law, which changed the social map of Egypt forever, was issued within two months of the revolution. In our case, the revolutionary youth is merely a pressure group attempting to guide the decisions of interim period institutions from outside, and retroactively. This situation has caused a lot of confusion, undermined political stability and created bad blood between the revolutionaries and the institutions. So far, the youth has failed to take part in any of the proposed dialogues, including those organised by Yehia El-Gamal and Abdel-Aziz Hegazi. Some of the revolutionaries have met members of the Higher Council of the Armed Forces, but that didn't do a lot of good either. This is not just the fault of the revolutionaries. Most of the dialogues, by the admission of some of their organisers, were poorly conceived. And the difference of opinion between those in charge and the revolutionaries was sometimes difficult to bridge. Still, the youth could have done better. They could, for example, discard the non-institutional mechanisms they used to bring down the old regime. They could move to adopt the kind of institutional mechanisms we need to build the new order. To put it bluntly, the tactics of Tahrir Square are not suitable for dialogue. Our youth has succeeded in bringing down a tyrannical regime, but they are still unable to rise above their old ways of action. They complain about dialogue without offering an alternative; without -- for instance -- calling for a dialogue among the youth to define their vision for the future. A dialogue among the youth could offer the country more than a vision. It could offer it a chance to learn more about those youth, their organisations, and the way these organisations interact. We need to know, for example, which organisations took part in the revolution and which came onto the scene afterwards. We also need to know the revolutionaries' position on the motley of groups that seem to take over Tahrir Square in some days for no apparent reason. Some of those groups have taken part in acts of sabotage, as when thugs asked for their help in attacking the Azbakiya Police Station a few days ago. There has also been a disgraceful sexual assault on a female TV reporter. Most importantly, we need to know more about the youth's programme for the country's future. Instead of shouting matches in dialogue rooms, the youth needs to make an initiative of their own. They need to learn how to act in an organised and systematic manner, using their heads instead of their hands. When the real revolutionaries do that, the nation would be able to identify the fake revolutionaries who came late onto the scene to reap the benefits. Once the revolutionaries find their place, once they begin to act systematically to voice their views and become part of the national set-up for decision-making, things will get better.
