Here come the Brothers

As I said somewhat flippantly below, its been two months since the Presidential Elections here, but SO much has changed. We are now in parlimentary election season, and the headline of course, is the Muslim Brothers. Their performance so far in this election is really astounding. Along with the 76 seats they've won so far, are many other seats which I believe they would have won save for the blatant interference, cheating, and fraud from government NDP candidates. Which means that in nearly every district, for nearly every seat, the MB ran strong or won. So anyone who guesses "just 25% of Egyptians would vote for the MB if they were legalized" should take another look at this situation. Perhaps not for President--that is the most powerful post by far, and many voters would be loathe to take the risk of appointing an untested figure. But as for parlimentary elections... They are extremely organized, many live in and offer social services in the areas where they are running--not the rich NDP enclaves. And certainly, more people I've met at the polls seem to passionately support them than the morally compromised, no services machine of the NDP.

The other main story to watch here in Egypt now, from the standpoint of political opposition and democracy, is about Kifaya. Where are they? As I learned more about them they began to strike me as so disconnected, with a tiny base of supporters, their members backing a wide variety of political ideologies that are old fashioned and don't resonate with the people. Each protest began to seem the same, and no political candidates save one or two even showed up at a rally. The legal opposition is getting crushed by both the NDP and its alternative, the Brotherhood. Even more depressing is the local opposition press, which an Egyptian colleague now helps me read. Instead of banding together, the parties attack each other, kicking each other when they are down. Competing, as my friend Josh Stacher here said--to be the first among the shackled.