Far from the spotlight and behind the curtain, Egyptian political parties, including the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), have begun to prepare the lists of their candidates for the Shura Council elections, which will take place next June, and for the People's Assembly elections, which will take place around four months later. And as is the case with all elections in Egypt, opposition parties will suffer from “paucity” in the number of major figures fit for candidacy, in addition to their financial paucity and inability to fund their electoral campaigns. On the other hand, the ruling party – which enjoys influence, power and the support of the state media, in addition of course to its high financial capabilities – has an abundance of members who wish to be candidates, and at every election the NDP's predicament is always the competition between its major figures in villages and provinces to obtain the “honor” of becoming candidates on the party's lists, thus supporting its apparatus and ensuring the gathering of voters. And every time, the matter ends with those excluded insisting on running as independent candidates, the struggle in numerous districts appearing to be between an NDP candidate and an independent NDP candidate! In fact, in the last elections, those who had been excluded by the party achieved a crushing victory over those whom the party had adopted and put forth as candidates on its lists, and of course, the winners regained their place in the party as Members of Parliament, earning the “honor” of being affiliated with the NDP and in exchange earning the party parliamentary majority. Opposition parties will not be participating profusely in the Shura Council's midterm renewal elections, for reasons connected to the paucity of their situation in terms of the number of candidates, as well as in order to save on expenses. The NDP, on the other hand, will not spare a single seat and will flood all districts with its candidates. In the background, the Muslim Brotherhood will remain the ruling party's prime competitor, working silently, infiltrating society, and playing on contradictions; exploiting the negative aspects of the state, the mistakes made by the ruling party and the failure of the government to meet the daily life demands of people. And it seems that the group has the ambition to repeat its historical achievement, when it won 88 seats in the last People's Council elections. Certainly the NDP, which monitors the activity of the Brotherhood and the efforts of its leader Mohammed Badie to seal alliances with opposition parties, or at least to coordinate efforts with them, views Muslim Brotherhood candidates as strong competitors, and will seek to reduce the group's chances of obtaining the same number of seats in the next elections, not just in order to avoid the Brotherhood's influence in the presidential elections scheduled next year, but also to diminish the uproar caused by Brotherhood MPs in Parliament sessions. The real problem of some lies in seeking to win everything without paying the price for anything, aiming at possession and quick gain, and in fulfillment of the motives of greed that lie within the souls of some, without regard for the future. As a general rule, the struggle between those competing, in political parties or the Brotherhood, will remain at its height until the end of these elections, and it will certainly be repeated with the presidential elections next year. Moreover, ordinary citizens will remain far from the scene except when they are needed, as the same methods will be exercised on them as were in the past, to gain their approval, support and votes, until the need for them expires, at which point they become bygone. Such is the situation when one looks at the immediate circumstances, as there is no perspective for the future and no perception of the dangers of making the wrong choices, which may achieve quick victory, yet one which will remain in the long run a false victory… and a bitter defeat.
