It has become clear that threats to the current regime are not from the political opposition or well-known external threats, but rather from within the regime itself. A long legacy of a corroded system comprised of institutions that exceed their jurisdictions, working in isolated islands with obsolete philosophies, has led to the miserable situation we are in now.
Mubarak is gone, but his authoritarian machine remains strong. It refuses to recognize that times have changed, and that the philosophies of the past are not suitable for the present or the future. With a clear desire to take revenge for what happened to the regime four years ago, and with the misguided belief that abuse and oppression would protect the state from fictitious scarecrows, the machine continues to brainwash the Egyptian people and threatens to topple the state from within itself.
The most dangerous thing that happens in periods of transition and change is when only the head of the regime is replaced, while the old system actually rules. The old centers of power work to commit more hostilities and further separate the head of the regime from the real reformist forces that could help him rebuild the new institutions and mechanisms.
Dealing with these centers of power needs genuine popular backing before that backing fades away and is replaced by suspicion, and before perceptions begin to conflate the old and the new as one inseparable body.
The popular backing will gradually fade if its confidences go uninspired or its concerns are not reassured; it could be devastating if it felt frustrated and deceived.
Critical times cannot afford to change slowly or be fearful of consequences. There is no gain without sacrifice, but the sacrifice would cost much less than the price of hesitation. Every day the centers of power expand their networks and methods to manipulate newcomers and abort any attempt for reform or development. They stand behind a curtain cursing those in the forefront by virtue of their responsibility.
Throughout history, no new authority has been established unless it cleared the rubble and opened the windows of the future to expel the rot. Cancerous tumors must be removed completely before they expand and kill.
Seventeen months have passed and the disease is not yet cured, nor have the voices of wisdom and maturity been heard to warn against the danger.
Fighting real battles for reform depends on the will.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
