The Islamists, whose fortunes had been steadily rising, have found that their electoral assets have either plateaued or begun to dwindle as a consequence of their response to this week's events, Amani Maged reports The "Friday of One Demand" demonstration staged by an array of Islamists and youth coalitions on 18 November triggered a wave of criticism against the Muslim Brotherhood, their Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), as well as various Salafis, including the potential presidential candidate Sheikh Hazem Salah Abu Ismail. The liberals and revolutionary youth attacked the Muslim Brotherhood for "abandoning Tahrir Square" and, on Monday, protesters expelled FJP leader Mohamed El-Beltagui from the 25 January Revolution's iconic square when he and a group of followers tried to put in an appearance. El-Beltagui subsequently declared that since his party had not said that it would take part in the sit-in that followed the Friday demonstration it could not be accused of withdrawing. Another FJP leader, Ahmed Abu Baraka, held the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), in its capacity as the chief governing authority at present, primarily responsible for the recent disturbances. He demanded that the officers and policemen responsible for firing rubber bullets and teargas canisters at demonstrators or other such "deviations from all acceptable conventions for dispersing demonstrators" be turned over to the prosecutor-general's office for trial. "It is our right to call for a 'march of millions' any time we wish, and open it to anyone who wants to take part. This right also applies to others," Abu Baraka said, adding, "We have a clear vision and carefully assess when and when not to take to the square. Why do other trends deny us this right?" According to the political activist George Ishaq, the Muslim Brotherhood lost a portion of its popularity assets by failing to support the demonstrators and bringing its organisational and protection capacities to their defence. Egyptians now have the impression that the Muslim Brothers act only when they feel like it. On the other hand, Ali Abdel-Aal, an expert on Islamist movements, believes that the situation will ultimately work in the Muslim Brotherhood's favour. He said the wisdom and good sense of some of its leaders is evidenced in their demands and in their statement declaring that they would not take part in Tuesday's "national salvation" march while simultaneously urging a rapid investigation into those responsible for causing the appalling crimes that occurred in Tahrir Square. Abdel-Aal added that the Muslim Brotherhood conveyed this demand to the prosecutor-general and urged a withdrawal of security forces from the confrontation in order to halt "rivers of blood". The Muslim Brotherhood links the current eruption in violence with what it describes as indefatigable attempts that have been continuing for months to obstruct the handover of power to the people through parliamentary elections, which would be the first step to the transition of authority to an elected legislature and government. Some Muslim Brotherhood sources suspect a plot to disseminate chaos and to distort the Egyptian revolution. They contend that various interests are conspiring to prevent the Egyptian people from fulfilling the aims of their revolution and to build a proper democratic system. They point to the remnants of the former regime, officials in the security establishment, and regional and international powers that do not want to see a truly independent, free and democratic Egypt. FJP Secretary-General Mohamed Saad El-Katatni maintains that his party's refusal to take part in any demonstrations or sit-ins that could lead to further confrontation and tension stems from its desire to avoid dragging the people into other bloody stand-offs. He urged all forces to act rationally and wisely, and stressed the need for them to mend the antagonisms that the Ministry of Interior ignited and that precipitated the security breakdown in many governorates while it lashed out at demonstrators. The Brotherhood denounced attempts to break-up the sit-in by force as long as it violated no laws. In a statement it called upon all loyal Egyptians not to play into the hands of those who seek to harm the country and urged political forces that sympathised with the "Friday of One Demand" to leave Tahrir Square so as to deprive the people's enemies of the chance to obstruct Egypt's civilisational course through their incessant attempts to sabotage the elections and plunge the country into chaos. In addition to its appeals for calm, the Brotherhood offered its services to SCAF, saying that it would work alongside the army, police and election officials to maintain security so that elections could start on time on 28 November. While the FJP decided to boycott the million-man march and to confine itself to appeals for calm, the same does not apply to all Islamist forces. Centre Party leader Abul-Ela Madi said that his party would take part in Tuesday's demonstration, the purpose of which was to promote the people's demands. These were the immediate resignation of the Essam Sharaf government, a deadline for holding presidential elections by no later than April 2012, the total restructuring of the Ministry of Interior, and guarantees that all guilty of shedding Egyptian blood would be brought to trial. (After this story was written, SCAF accepted the resignation of the Sharaf government and moved up the date for transferring power to a civilian government to June next year). The Centre Party also called for a national council representative of all political forces to work with SCAF until the creation of a national salvation government, as called for in a collective statement issued by the various political forces and parties on Tuesday. If, indeed, the Muslim Brotherhood has lost some of its stock for not mobilising in the defence of the demonstrators, the Salafis are faring little better, if for the opposite reason. On Saturday, presidential hopeful Sheikh Hazem Salah Abu Ismail issued a statement calling on Egyptians to support the demonstrators in Tahrir, and a large number of fellow Salafis heeded his call. Due to the violence that has since flared and with which he is now associated, Abu Ismail's electoral prospects have plummeted and the same applied to the Salafi parliamentary candidates that stood with him, according to some analysts. Nevertheless, the damage to their campaign prospects may have been contained, somewhat, when the Salafist Nour Party also took to the square to demand the transfer of power to an elected civil authority and the resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister Ali El-Salmi and Minister of Interior Mansour Eissawi. The Islamic Law Organisation for Reform and Rights, formed by an array of Salafis, Azhar scholars and Muslim Brothers, was more level headed. It urged SCAF to defuse the crisis and to set a deadline for the handover of power to a civil authority, in keeping with the pledge it made since assuming control over the country. The organisation also called upon Egyptians to refrain from strikes and sit-ins that were not a response to a mass consensus and that were not absolutely necessary, especially in these fraught times. It also appealed to "eminent religious scholars and leaders" -- an oblique reference to Sheikh Hazem Salah Abu Ismail -- to refrain from issuing opinions or decisions on public affair matters without first consulting the organisation and other competent religious and academic authorities, in compliance with divine commands. The million-man march of 18 November was triggered by a set of inviolable constitutional principles announced by Deputy Prime Minister El-Salmi. Although El-Salmi subsequently backed down, subsequent developments in Tahrir plunged the country into a wave of bloodshed and its worst crisis since the revolution. Coming at the threshold of parliamentary elections, it will undoubtedly affect the prospects of all parties, the Islamists in particular.
