How are we supposed to view the opinion expressed by National Democratic Party deputies last week who in a meeting last Sunday at the People's Assembly demanded that the Interior Ministry mow down demonstrators with bullets? Such statements reveal a great deal, for they represent the true disfigured face of the National Democratic Party, without the benefits of a facelift or a retouching. The first thing that we should notice is the party's traditional strategy of attacking the opposition by accusing it of receiving financing from abroad. Of course, this claim is made without any evidence, but the accusation itself is useful for sowing doubt among the citizenry as to the motives of the opposition. Second, more than anything, the incident reveals the incapability of party members to even accept the mere existence of an opposition. In their eyes, any opposition that does exist can be dismissed as either Communist or Islamic. Despite the fact that such thinking belongs to another era, it reveals the unique logic at work in the minds of the party's deputies, which believes that the party is without equal. According to this type of thinking, the party alone can defend the nation. If one reviews the deputies' statements during the meeting, it becomes clear that the deputies are behaving as if they owned the country, or more accurately, that they are the country. Therefore, it is only logical for one of the deputies to declare, “We're 80 million people afflicted by a corrupt gang.” The most important thing that the events of the session reflect is that the deputies cannot imagine any other reality other than the status quo, in which they own everything in the country. Merely making the attempt to object to such a situation pushes them to the brink of violence. Thus when they demanded that those demonstrating in Egypt be shot, we can understand they are actually trying to defend themselves, for they are ready to repel with force anyone who threatens their interests. The slightest criticism of the status quo incites the wrath of such deputies and makes them lose their minds, causing accusations to pour forth that would be outside the domain of accepted political practice under the dome of any other parliament in the world. If I am wrong, someone can clarify the meaning of the following words, as uttered by a deputy in the NDP, “[The demonstrators are] a group of drunk and marijuana-smoking rented bums financed from abroad that need to be rapped on their hands with an iron fist.” The true face of the party was unveiled during this incident, captured most eloquently by a satirical image currently circulating on the Internet. In it, the emblem of the latest National Democratic Party conference which read “For Your Sake,” now says “A bullet for your sake.” Translated from the Arabic Edition.
