CAIRO: The organized political opposition in Egypt continued its downturn this year, and if anything, 2008 showed that any real opposition would come from workers’ movements and trade unions, rather than political parties.
Considered the largest opposition group, though legally banned, the Muslim Brotherhood had a year to forget, much like in 2007 when they continued to be on the receiving end of numerous government crackdowns.
For most of last year, 40 senior members of the group had been on trial for a plethora of charges, later reduced by the military court but to no avail as 25 of them received sentences in April ranging from three to 10 years in prison for funding a banned organization.
The two most prominent members in the dock, chief financier Mohamed Khayrat El Shater and Hassan Malek, both received seven-year sentences.
Thirty-four people were arrested outside the court on the day of the verdict as clashes erupted between police and family members attempting to approach the court in the Heikstep, north-east of Cairo, where the verdict was announced. Three journalists were also arrested but later released.
Two of Malek’s sons were held in the fracas and his daughter, Khadiga, told Daily News Egypt before the verdict was handed down that she was beaten by plainclothes policemen as families of the detainees waited outside the court.
“As we were waiting thugs came out of police cars and tried to force us to leave. One of them banged my face repeatedly against the police car, she said.
Deputy Editor of the Al-Siyasa Al-Dawlia (International Politics) magazine Khalil Al-Anani told Daily News Egypt at the time that “this verdict signifies a change in the relationship between the Brotherhood and the regime; this is the first time such a strong sentence is handed down to leading members of the group.
“El-Shater is the second deputy supreme guide and at one point he was the most acceptable face of the group for the government, he was the tactical negotiator with the regime. So for him to be sentenced means the regime has cut off all avenues with the group, Al-Anani added.
Al-Anani believes this was part of a “Plan B the government had put in place after the group’s victory in the 2005 parliamentary elections when they won 88 of the 454 seats, and consisted of “political castration, organizational atrophy and a financial assault.
“This is the plan as long as there is ambiguity in the transfer of power in Egypt. This is a very critical time, he added.
The crackdown on the Brotherhood continued for the remainder of the year, but more pertinently was the freezing of much of their assets, believed to be in the billions, which stemmed the progress of the group.
Additionally, Brotherhood members were taken off the ballot in follow-up parliamentary elections as well as municipal ones.
More secular opposition parties also faced a difficult 2008, not least the Ghad party whose former leader Ayman Nour continues to languish in jail while his health deteriorates.
Not that this was the end of it, as infighting within the party led to the burning down of the party headquarters in Talaat Harb square in the absence of security. A demonstration planned in support of Nour a week later was scuppered by the heavy police presence.
The once vibrant Kefaya movement saw a change in leadership after the death of Abdel-Wahab El-Messiery. Abdel-Gelil Mustafa agreed to become the new coordinator in a temporary capacity until the end of the year.
The Kefaya movement came to prominence in 2005 and during the presidential elections held the same year, when it organized a mass movement comprising disparate and often antagonistic movements in the country and united them against the regime and its decades in power.
However, following that peak in 2005, the impetus of the movement has slowed down as infighting and a government crackdown weakened it.
And with Al Wafd party still licking its wounds after former leader Nomaan Gomaa descended on the party headquarters literally with guns blazing, the political opposition of Egypt was again stymied in 2008. The most recent conflict between party Mahmoud Abaza reached its peak
Yet in its place emerged a new type of opposition, comprised of workers movements, union organizations, internet bloggers and political activists who are now at the forefront of Egypt’s opposition movement.
