CAIRO: A number of political activists and academics launched Tuesday the National Front for Justice and Democracy with the aim of guarding the demands of the revolution and attracting the unpoliticized masses who took part in a popular revolt that toppled the regime.
The Front’s mission is to represent the interests and concepts of those who participated in the revolt but whose voices are not heard because they do not belong to a political organization or group.
"We started thinking of establishing the front two weeks after ex-president [Hosni] Mubarak stepped down when we learned that 80 percent of those who participated in the revolution are unpoliticized and that certain groups are piggybacking on the revolution to further their own agenda," said Mohamed Waked, a political activist and founding member.
"We are now witnessing democracy being implemented through half-baked procedures and the interim government adopting the same anti-social justice economic policies of the ousted regime," Waked said during the Front’s inaugural conference.
The Front’s principles include establishing and protecting true democracy, fighting corruption, achieving social justice, initiating a dialogue with all national political powers, and acting as a pressure group to ensure that national interests drive foreign policies.
Founders also called for restructuring the police force and said that the Front will seek to influence the outcome of upcoming elections through dialogues with candidates and supporting candidates whose programs conform to the group’s agenda.
The founder emphasized that they are not backed by any particular candidate or political group and that their only source of funding is members’ contributions.
Activists from across the political spectrum attended the conference, which was also attended by actors Amr Waked and Ahmed Eid.
"We chose to make it a Front and aren’t planning to turn it into a political party because it will be difficult and time-consuming to unite all members from various political streams under one ideology," Waked explained.
According to their founding statement, they will rely on public mobilization to achieve their goals as it was proven to be the most efficient strategy during the uprising.
Awareness campaigns and activities will be launched rural areas as the founders said they would push for a wider geographical impact.
Founders also announced plans to participate in mass demonstration on April 1, as their first public activity.
