By Salama A Salama Divisions have surfaced within the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) after the Muslim Brotherhood youth decided to form a new group, called the "National Current", and to keep it independent from the FJP. Followers of the new current have been threatened with dismissal from the Brotherhood. Shortly after the FJP was established, differences began to emerge within the Muslim Brotherhood. And the more politically active Brotherhood members become, drawn ever more into the political scene, the more likely they are to engage in activities, ideas and initiatives that the old guard are reluctant to endorse. As a result, more and more Muslim Brotherhood members are likely to challenge the ironclad rule of obedience that holds sway over most Islamist groups. The breaking away of the Brotherhood youth is only one of several signs suggesting that the internal cohesion of the Brotherhood is less solid than a lot of people think. Another sign is that Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh, a senior Muslim Brotherhood member, was dismissed after deciding to run for the presidency against the group's wishes. The Brotherhood not only dismissed Abul- Fotouh, who was once one of its most promising leaders, but threatened any member who helps his presidential campaign with a similar fate. Recently, Mohamed Selim El-Awwa declared his intention to run for president as an independent Islamist candidate. He is believed to have the support of the Wasat, a party that holds more moderate views than the Muslim Brotherhood. Meanwhile, many Islamists and Salafis are getting ready for the elections, and so far there has been no consensus among Islamists on one presidential candidate. The Nour, the new Salafist party, has just been launched in Alexandria. The Islamists are getting into the political arena. They are not coordinating their position, but they appear to be eager to get ahead in the elections so that they may have the upper hand in writing the constitution. At present, the FJP seems to be the most powerful Islamist party around, and the best organised. But cracks have begun to appear in the wall, and differences within the FJP on how to deal with the country's liberal parties are likely to grow. As political pressure mounts on the FJP, it may split into several parties, and some of its leaders, or followers, may defect to other parties. This is true across the board, for the Islamists as well as others. Precedents of major parties splitting exist in Egyptian history, most notably when Makram Ebeid walked away from the Wafd Party in the early 1940s. The Tagammu is perhaps heading for a similar crisis. And the Wafd's alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood has already led to the departure of Sameh Makram Ebeid and others from the Wafd. Old parties in Egypt are still run by old leaders who don't think much of younger generations and expect to be able to tell them what to do. But the times are changing, and the silent majority is no longer silent. The youth of the old parties were mostly late in joining the 25 January Revolution, because their leaders held them back. They had to choose between listening to their leaders and listening to their hearts and minds, and they must have resented it. The Egyptian revolution has cast a shadow on the conventional parties. It has created a new reality, one in which democracy is being shaped by the younger generations. The future of politics in this country is the future of the young. They will have the last word. They, and not the old guard, will write the new rules of the game.
