Any naval commander will tell you that the fleet can only move as fast as the slowest ship. All of the ships in the flotilla must move at the same speed. To do otherwise would be to split the fleet in two. The faster ships would move on, leaving the slower ships behind and exposing them to attack from the enemy. Strength and safety lies in numbers. Egypt is going through a phase now in which the whole nation must stick together or risk falling apart. The issues and challenges facing the country, and the polarities that seem to be dividing Egyptians, are such that unity is of the essence. Looking back now on the events of January and February of last year makes us wonder what really happened during those days of so-called revolution. A revolution is a complete upheaval of the social order. Everything changes. Not only the ruler is removed from office, but the whole system of government and the whole way of thinking is swept away and replaced by something else. There is little doubt that the ideals which inspired Egypt's youth to begin protesting on January 25 were indeed a revolution of ideas. Those same aspirations for a better nation, where freedom, dignity and social justice are available for all and tyranny, fraud and corruption have no place in the corridors of power are still to be seen in the hearts of millions. Just being with many of those young people today is truly inspiring. They have lost none of the passion which drove them on last year. Indeed, how could they when their friends and colleagues were bludgeoned to death before their eyes? There is little doubt, too, that the revolution has been hijacked. Many commentators look back now over the last year and see that those who so smoothly took over the running of the country when its dictator was ousted from office, have all along been controlling events, steering things in the way they want them to go. Those cheering crowds who threw flowers at the tanks in Tahrir Square last year were led to believe that everything was going to change. Such was the desire for change that people did not question what was happening, but rather put their trust in Egypt's new leaders, just as they had done in 1952. There is far more to a revolution, though, than getting rid of a dictator. It is relatively easy to get rid of a dictator if enough people are prepared to protest against him. Getting rid of dictatorship is another thing altogether. After decades in power, dictatorship is firmly rooted in every aspect of government and society. Every office and factory has its own little Mubarak. Crowds of protesters find it much more difficult to change attitudes than to change the president. Of all the mistakes that have been made since January 2011, and there have been many, perhaps the greatest is that those driving the revolution failed to carry the rest of the country along with them. The fleet can only move as fast as the slowest ship. It is not enough that Tahrir Square be packed with protesters. Egypt has many millions of people and the majority of them have never seen Tahrir. Indeed, at the height of the protests last year, many Egyptians were seen to be openly questioning what was happening, asking what all the fuss was about and why the young people were unhappy with their leader. Subsequent events have surely shown them why. This last week saw the former president jailed for life his complicity in the murder of almost nine hundred people. Over the last year we have seen, one by one, ministers and government officials being jailed for stealing the country's money. Surely that was enough to convince people of the need for revolution last year. But, obviously, not everyone is convinced. There are those who are seriously considering a return to the old regime by electing one of its ministers as president. What would have been unthinkable last year, when the prime minister was forced to step down from office because he was so clearly tainted with the mantle of the former dictator, has now become the reality of a Presidential election between two candidates. The fleet moved on at some time during the last year. Those impatient at the slow process of change left behind the millions of Egyptians who were not persuaded of the need for change at all. The pathetic squabbling between political parties, jockeying for positions and for seats in parliament, left many disillusioned with the whole process of politics. Broken promises left many people wondering if they could really trust the men claiming to be the guardians of revolution. And all the time, those entrusted with the transition from dictatorship to democracy have been steering events in the way they wanted, protecting their own considerable economic and political interests, regardless of what was best for the country, and guiding everything back to the way it always was. The choice now before voters is not a very exciting one. Many view the choice as a stark choice between returning to the former regime or choosing men who have been less than honest in their dealings with the Egyptian people over the last year. Going back to the way things were is surely not an option for anyone with an ounce of common sense. But there seems to be a shortage of common sense at the moment. Prices in the shops are high. What a coincidence that in the two weeks before the final vote, Egyptians are forced to queue for long hours in the hot sun to put petrol in their cars. Policemen are rarely to be seen. Tourists are not to be seen at all. Is it any wonder that so many have been tricked into thinking that a return to the past is the only way to restore safety and stability to the country? The vast crowds in Tahrir Square and other places across Egypt this last week have shown that many ordinary Egyptians are still inspired by the ideals which swept a dictator from power. Neither extreme nor violent, the crowds were made up of families wanting a better future for their country and justice for those who died as martyrs. The challenge, though, is not to turn out in large numbers to protest. The real challenge is to carry along with them the vast majority of ordinary Egyptians who have seen no benefit from last year's revolution and who simply want safety for their families and their property. The forces of the old regime are now doing everything they can to scare people into voting for the past. In doing so, they are asking Egyptians to give up their right to a better future and to a society where equality and opportunity is available for all. The commanders of the fleet need to act quickly or the fleet is in danger of attack not only from without, but also from within. British Muslim writer, Idris Tawfiq, is a lecturer at Al-Azhar University . The author of eight books about Islam, he divides his time between Egypt and the UK as a speaker, writer and broadcaster. You can visit his website at www.idristawfiq.com.
