Amani Maged looks at the balance sheet for the Islamists following their refusal to participate in last Friday's demonstrations Last Friday's "Returning to Course" demonstration, organised by all political forces apart from the Islamists, was the most violent million-man march so far. On one side of the Nile were disturbances and acts of vandalism, on the other bank the storming of the Israeli embassy. Confrontations between riot police and demonstrators on Friday evening and into Saturday led to a number of deaths and hundreds injured. Asked why his party had not taken part in Friday's demonstration Mohamed Saad El-Katatni, secretary-general of the Freedom and Justice Party, the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, replied that since the overthrow of the Mubarak regime the main purpose of mass demonstrations had been to sustain pressure in order to ensure the realisation of major aims of the revolution. Previous demonstrations, he argued, had succeeded in promoting the realisation of many demands while "the last march -- in contrast to the demonstration of 29 July -- had not been coordinated between all political forces and those who called for it had not agreed on a set of specific aims". "They had a panoply of different aims, some of purely secondary importance." El-Katatni says his party is of the view that government officials should now be given a chance to fulfil the demands of the Egyptian people and return to Tahrir Square only if these demands are not realised. But did the Freedom and Justice Party damage itself by not taking part in the demonstrations? Protesters in Port Said attempted to storm the party's governorate headquarters in protest against its refusal to participate. "This is not a question of profit or loss," says senior Freedom and Justice official Ahmed Abu Baraka. "Our nation lost several of its children and experienced harrowing incidents of violence. What happened to the party's building in Port Said was an isolated incident. Nothing similar occurred elsewhere. "The party was reluctant to take part in a mass demonstration that did not have clear and specific aims and that could end in chaos. However, we had never anticipated violence at this level. I believe that the party has gained from not having taken part." Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya adopted a similar stance. It refused to take part in Friday's demonstration for fear that it would turn into a prolonged sit-in, generating additional security concerns and political anarchy which would delay elections. Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya member Essam Darbala insists the aims of Friday's "Returning to Course" demonstrations had not been agreed by political forces. "There was a mixture of just and destructive demands. To effectively stage a million-man march there has to be agreement among all patriotic forces in order to confront any threat to overturn the revolution," he says. Darbala argues that until the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) hands over power it needs to take a number of urgent decisions in response to "just" demands lodged by patriotic forces and supported by Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya, foremost among them the promulgation of a law to prevent members of the dissolved National Democratic Party (NDP) from infiltrating the forthcoming People's Assembly. Other demands include the institution of a minimum wage law, changes to the laws governing legislative elections, and the exercise of political rights, the redrawing of electoral districts, a ban on the prosecution of civilians in military courts and a clear timetable for legislative, municipal and presidential elections. The Islamists, in general, also want an explicit declaration from SCAF stating that it will not attempt to impose a set of constitutional principles. Departing from the general Islamist stance some Salafist groups, many young members of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Popular Will Front, which is affiliated to the Salafist trend, did take part in last Friday's demonstration. Along with other participants they demanded an immediate halt to military trials of civilians, a timetable for the handover of power to an elected civil authority, an end to the ban on strikes and sit- ins and a complete overhaul of the elections law. They also called for firm action to restore security to the streets, the implementation of a minimum and maximum wage, and the application of laws to politically isolate leading figures from the defunct NDP. Although the Popular Will Front had made it clear that it would cooperate with other political forces by participating in the demonstration it was disturbed by calls for what it described as unacceptable demands. It accused "discordant voices" of attempting to undermine national consensus and sow disunity and says events that occurred after 6pm constituted a breach of earlier agreements. Liberal and other forces that participated in the demonstrations were angered by the refusal of the bulk of Islamist forces to take part. Many charged that the major Islamist groups had begun to shirk their responsibility to protect the gains of the revolution, prime among which is freedom of opinion and expression. In their reactions to the charge some Islamist leaders picked up on its implicit recognition of the role they had played as "guardians of Tahrir Square". Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya leader Assem Abdel-Maged repeated the argument that the Islamist absence on Friday was due to fear of possible violence. The Islamists, he said, had gained ground from its position while the revolution suffered a setback because the Islamists were not there to protect it. Abdel-Moneim El-Shahat, official spokesman of the Salafist Calling, also contests that the Islamists came out ahead. "If they had taken part the violence would have been attributed to them and them alone. They gained by remaining uninvolved and, therefore, clear of all possible suspicion." Expert on Islamist movements Ammar Ali Hassan points out that the Islamist forces -- the Muslim Brotherhood and its Freedom and Liberty Party in particular -- only made it clear they would not take part in the demonstrations at the last moment. He drew a link between their announcement and reports of a last-minute meeting between SCAF and Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi leaders, although these forces deny any such meeting took place. Hassan believes that given Friday's violence the Islamists played their hand well by not taking part even if many young Islamists were present in the demonstrations. Another expert on Islamist movements, Ali Abdel-Aal agrees, saying Islamist forces are likely to have upped their public standing by refusing to take part in the demonstration in order to give the SCAF and the government the opportunity to meet the people's demands.
