Both the ruling Islamists and the opposition are apparently playing for time as their dispute drags on unresolved. However, the two disputants seem oblivious to the risks involved, as Egypt's economy bears the brunt of the political turmoil. Months after the crisis first erupted over the Islamist President Mohammed Morsi's decree granting himself sweeping powers, neither he nor the secular-minded opposition has given any signal of compromise. For Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood, the opposition will be soon overwhelmed by the parliamentary elections, expected to be held in April. The polls will put to the test the popularity of the opposition, mainly the National Salvation Front (NSF) that has been in the forefront of Morsi's critics in the past three months. The Brotherhood have always displayed organisational skills and the ability to mobilise a wide grassroots support base at election time, even when the group were outlawed under the Mubarak reign. The Brotherhood aim to gain an outright majority in the coming vote in order to form the Government without having to ally themselves with other Islamists. This aim will be hard to come by this time, however. The Brotherhood's popularity has recently suffered due to their failure to keep their promises to improve the living conditions for ordinary Egyptians. Even a landslide win for the Brotherhood is unlikely to end the crisis with their critics, who accuse them of seeking to monopolise power. The opposition has yet to say clearly whether it will compete in the elections. Leaders of the NSF have recently conditioned their participation in the polls on getting certain guarantees, including replacing the incumbent Islamist-backed Government with a non-partisan cabinet, to ensure fair and free elections. Morsi's backers dismiss this suggestion as impractical, saying that the balloting is just round the corner. The opposition, blamed by Islamists for a recent wave of street violence, appears to pin hopes on the time factor too. The opposition believes that, as time goes by, more and more people will get angry with Morsi, as his administration fails to revitalise a battered economy and deal with a security breakdown. The possibility of Egypt securing a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund is becoming remote, as Morsi appears unwilling to implement a package of austerity measures. The loan is necessary for Egypt to prop up its finances and curb a bloated budget deficit. Reducing the State subsidies on basic commodities and hiking up taxes top the austerity measures. Yet enforcing these measures in the next few months jeopardises the gains, which the Brotherhood eye in the coming elections. The nation's foreign reserves have plummeted to $13.6 billion from $36 billion in the final days of Mubarak's rule. The opposition assumes that the time factor is working against Morsi, who will eventually have to make concessions if the political and economic situation is to stabilise. In fact, the calculations of both sides are taking Egypt nowhere. The protracted wrangling is bleeding the country heavily and jeopardising its democratic transition. The scale of street violence is growing, amid increasing reports about activists disappearing, spiralling crime rates and instances of mob justice. A severe fuel shortage is another cause for concern and resentment. The moral and street authority of the State institutions is glaringly being eroded. A recent warning by the Defence Minister, that political squabbling is threatening the State with collapse, should prompt the ruling Islamists and the opposition to realise that everyone in this country stands to lose. Time is running out for them to pull back from the brink.
