Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Egyptian Opposition Parties…Urgent Responsibilities at Stake | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Egyptian opposition parties need to stop crying over spilt milk, and change their thinking concerning the results of Egypt”s last presidential elections.

We have to admit that under the circumstances the events that took place are the best thing that could actually happen. We can never move from a single party system to a democratic one in one step. We cannot shift from an electoral process with no judicial supervision to a purely democratic one overnight.

Yes, we can echo the Egyptian opposition”s protest over the misuse of civil society institutions, as well as the misuse of visual, audio and print media by the national party candidate. Yes, there are major problems in the registration procedure and the elections as a whole need to be modernized and revamped with all the latest technological advances that can be utilized.

All candidates must be given the same opportunity to reach people, as well as the same financial means. However, the Egyptian opposition must reevaluate their attitudes, goals, as well as the paths they have chosen. They also need to openly scrutinize their own mistakes as much as they are currently scrutinizing the incumbent government. The Egyptian opposition had entered the elections with an aggressive attitude while the whole process was in a state of turmoil. Some of the parties willingly participated, while others boycotted while some decided to take a more opportunistic route, and that cannot be blamed on the government but only these parties themselves.

The Egyptian opposition failed in its efforts to mobilize the public, the government cannot accept responsibility for that fact the 77 % of potential voters failed to show up on Election Day. If anything, this reflects the population”s general mistrust of both the incumbent government and its opposition. Some of the participating political groups went too far when they attributed the low voter turn out to their calls for a boycott of the elections. While other parties also had their presidential candidates, they were not successful in convincing people to participate.

National responsibility demands losing parties to concede to defeat, but not just the electoral defeat, but also the failure in not reaching people. Moreover, the solution does not lie in criticism of the government, but rather in reforming the opposition parties. there is a huge opportunity ahead of Egypt”s opposition parties if the choose to take a more unified stance, and speak a less pessimistic language, so that when the next parliamentary elections come around, which are far more important than presidential ones, these opposition parties can be successful.

The world has changed in Egypt, and who ever fails to admit that is obviously living in an alternate reality. Perhaps Egypt”s world has not changed in the manner in which we hoped for or dreamed of, but the reaching of such a dream is each and every Egyptians responsibility. The Egyptian opposition parties must not waste any more time, they should invest in the new status quo that know exists in Egypt. Opposition parties must reorganize their goals and priorities, for it does no body any good for Egypt to ruled by a single party no matter how good its intentions are.