By Khalil El-Anani Arab authoritarian regimes are in the habit of repressing moderate Islamist movements without thinking of the consequences. We don't have real political parties in the Arab world. Most of our secular and liberal parties are in tatters and offer no real competition to the regimes. Therefore, the only alternative to moderate Islamists is the radicals and militants who are willing to turn to violence at a moment's notice. If Arab regimes want to exclude moderate Islamists from politics, then at least they should open the way for secular and liberal parties to assert themselves in political life. This is not happening, do you know why? Because the regimes want to use the Islamists as a bogeyman to scare the West. Interestingly enough, the West -- especially the US -- is not buying it. Since the Muslim Brotherhood's spectacular performance in the 2005 elections, the confrontation between the regime and the group has been on the rise. But over the past six months or so, the regime has done everything to drive the Brotherhood out of political life, accusing it of money laundering, terror, and links with Hizbullah. I wouldn't be surprised to see Brotherhood members accused of links with Al-Qaeda before long. The Muslim Brotherhood is taking it lying down, fearing that any resistance would lead to more repression. Consequently, the Brotherhood is likely to disappear within a few years. This would be the end of moderate Islamists in this country, but not the end of radicalism. There is an undercurrent of radicalism among the young in Egypt. And in the absence of moderates, radicals will have a field day. Perhaps the security services will catch some radicals every now and then, but some are likely to escape the dragnet and do considerable damage. The regime cannot go on cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood without offering alternatives. This country has several secular parties -- liberals, nationalists, Nasserists, etc -- and yet it doesn't have one Islamist party. It is time to allow the moderates to have their party. Al-Wasat Party seems like a credible candidate, if you ask me. This week's Soapbox speaker is a political analyst with Al-Siyasa Al-Dawliya magazine published by Al-Ahram.
