The supposedly "angry" speech made by Muslim Brotherhood stalwart and former Deputy Supreme Guide Khairat al-Shater, who was dubbed the "Renaissance's architect" and the "modern day Prophet Youssef," in protest of being excluded from the presidential race can be summed up in this simple sentence: "I will appeal the decision, and Mohamed Morsy will be fielded in my place."
The Freedom and Justice Party's newspaper published a headline with Shater angrily professing "Allah suffices me, for He is the best disposer of affairs" next to a photo of him raising his arms in anger, as well as another headline declaring "Morsy is our presidential candidate."
As I picked up the latest issue of the Freedom and Justice Newspaper, the newspaper seller who I do not know looked at the headlines and asked me, "What's wrong with them? They knew he had legal problems and they had a back-up guy ready, so why are they upset and angry now as if it was a surprise?"
With much exasperation he added, "If you're going to get angry and throw out threats then you have to have a set position that you will not back down from. To prepare a back-up in case of injustice is like saying, ‘Go ahead do me wrong, and I will find a way around it.’ What kind of a revolution is this?"
I am not a member of the Brotherhood, but the newspaper seller's words embarrassed me and reminded me that the revolution must be the plan with no backup plan, and a solid stance with no alternatives.
Despite everything, I respect the unwavering position taken by the conspiracy theorists who believe that Sheikh Hazem Salah Abu Ismail suffered an injustice and who, out of faith, took to the streets to protest his exclusion. I also respect the solid stance taken by Omar Suleiman's supporters who quietly and immediately returned to the dustbin of history after his disqualification. However, the Brotherhood, as usual, continues its addiction to compromises, in hopes of advancing in this new era using the former regime's agenda.
The largest and most powerful organization lacked the courage of my friend and famous activist Alaa Abd El Fattah, who broke the military's will and refused to be tried before a military court, whereas the Brotherhood and the renaissance's architect bowed down to the Presidential Elections Commission's recognition of the military trial and its unjust imprisonment of Shater for opposing Mubarak, which resulted in his ban from running in the first presidential elections.
It is unfortunate that we have all moved away from the revolution's steadfastness only to accept such wishy-washy behavior. For example, I and many people I know have raised our hands in protest against Mohamed ElBardei's decision not to run in the elections and we now reluctantly support the former Brotherhood candidate Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh.
Prior to the revolution, I was not very enthusiastic about ElBaradei; however, my enthusiasm was sparked after witnessing my comrades, whose relationship with politics was inspired by his presidential campaign back when the path to change was blocked. It became clear to me that ElBaradei's nomination prior to the revolution was a question and a revolutionary test for our awful, relentless reality and supporting him was ticking the box of change. His campaign sparked the energy that has overflowed to other currents and campaigns after him, such as that of Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh.
As I hung up a poster in support of Abouel Fotouh with the help of my doorman Mohamed, I declared my support for his campaign and for the youth around him who form the largest group most representative of the revolutionaries, and who are led by youth that lean toward the Islamist trend but are more concerned with freedoms and rights than with dragging people to heaven in chains. His supporters include youth from a number of various trends and currents from both the right and the left, united by their hopes for a democratic nation.
I told my doorman that I was not all that enthusiastic about many of Abouel Fotouh’s stances and statements, but that I had no other choice. I also confessed my dual loyalty in that I wished that leftist presidential candidate Khaled Ali would attract more attention to himself in his demand for social justice, but this matter is not in my hands.
My lack of enthusiasm and dual loyalty encouraged Mohamed to tell me that he had planned on voting for Abu Ismail because everyone said he was "a good guy." At the same time, however, he didn't hide the fact that he was also leaning toward voting for Omar Suleiman as "we need some security and to straighten the country out." Of course, both were disqualified from the presidential race.
Due to old family ties, Mohamed carries a Wafd Party card, but this does not prevent him from indecisively swinging between all these inclinations without much enthusiasm. Aside from the enthusiastic supporters and those scared out of their minds, it seems that many people are dealing with politics as if it were a new game they are trying out, indecisively moving between positions that appear extreme in their rigidness.
In the end, Mohamed sympathized with my limited enthusiasm and told me he would vote for Abouel Fotouh as long as the revolutionary youth supported him. My barber Saeed also declared his support for Abouel Fotouh despite a slight leaning toward Abu Ismail in response to the enthusiasm of most of the salon's customers. However, he supported me in my non-enthusiasm and agreed that we shouldn't get that excited over any; that we should simply "try" them out.
We disagreed over his belief that a conspiracy forced the fierce trio (Abu Ismail, Shater and Suleiman) from the presidential battle, whereas I stopped believing in such theories when it comes to politics, believing instead in the simplicity and naiveté of all the participants in Egyptian politics.
I now believe that sometimes revolutions must grow by the fires of our fury and anger from the indecisiveness of this transitional period that is now choking our revolution. Maybe this anger might one day impose its own demands, rather than accepting choices like the one we are facing now.
Translated from Al Masry Al Youm by Aisha Al Awady
