Egyptians are waiting for the “battle of the constitution”, which will be a decisive one and will reveal the stances of political forces represented in Parliament. Most important is the fact that the battle will be broadcast live, and will have no secrets, as “the game” will be played out in the open – or, as Egyptians say, “right in your face”. Selecting and sorting the 100 members of the Constituent Assembly will take place publicly, and parliament sessions will be broadcast on television without editing or censorship. And because the Revolution has imposed new circumstances, talk of the People's Assembly will not be restricted to Egypt. Thus, the moment People's Assembly Speaker Saad El-Katatny asked Members of Parliament whether they wished to continue broadcasting the Assembly's sessions live, most of the MPs rose up in revolt, denounced the question, and insisted on the fact that the people should know first and foremost what goes on in the great hall of Parliament. Katatny complied and did not hold a vote to find out the Assembly's opinion on the matter, as the desire to continue the broadcast was overwhelming. Indeed, the truth is that the channel that broadcasts the sessions (Sawt El-Shaab, “the people's voice”) has become a focus of interest for Egyptians, for different reasons. Some of them want to observe the performance of MPs, their behavior and their reactions to the events witnessed by Egypt, as well as the stances taken by Parliament on important issues. Some compare “the Parliament of the Revolution” to the parliaments of previous eras, when state television would set aside half an hour after the 6 o'clock evening news to broadcast some of the discussions that had taken place in Parliament, and appearances would often be monopolized by the MPs of the then ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). There are also some who found the Assembly entertaining, especially as the majority of MPs have no experience in legislative work, and one can sometimes witness behaviors that would make a person cry, laugh, or both at the same time. According to a media specialist who works in marketing research, the channel is now scoring the highest ratings of all state and private television channels – and why not? Indeed, during the three days on which sessions are held every week (after the Shura Council is formed, it will alternate its sessions with those of the People's Assembly), people are watching something they had not been accustomed to, and are reading things that would have been out of the question before the Revolution. And despite the fact that some forces disapprove of how the parliamentary elections were held, have reservations on some violations that were committed, or are angry at the results, a general feeling prevails that the MPs have reached Parliament by the will of the people, and that the Islamist movement – which enjoys the greater popularity for numerous reasons, as well as the broader experience in gathering voters and the stronger influence among the masses – has only achieved what had been expected in the first place, with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists obtaining over two thirds of seats in Parliament. More importantly, the live broadcast, inasmuch as it comes to the benefit of some forces and brings them closer to the street, as well as to that of some MPs who have shown exceptional abilities and a high level of competence, will have a tremendous impact on every future election. People may be interested in the “mannerisms” of this or that MP, the “drama scenes” of one, or those of another who knows that an audience in watching and expects “applause” or words of praise. One MP gets very active during sessions, then after being done with the “show”, uploads segments of his “clips” on social media websites, and reads people's reactions to them while still seated in the hall. Nevertheless, this does not negate the fact that the live broadcast has shown the high capabilities of some other MPs, and the foolishness of former regimes that had excluded them for the mere fact that they enjoyed such capabilities, or the fact that they voiced opposition and were not skilled at applause. The live broadcast has revealed the competence of Deputy Speaker Ashraf Thabet, who is a Salafist MP, especially after the campaign waged by secular forces before and during the elections, which portrayed Salafists as aliens from a different planet, and claiming that they would, if they were to reach power, attack the secular nature of the state and its modern image. It has also shown the exceptional and objective performance of Wafd Party MP Abdul Alim Dawood, Leftist MP Abul Ezz Al-Hariri and “Centrist” MP Essam Sultan, as models of parliamentary conduct, far from “drama” or “jesting”, as they are well aware of the size and the nature of their responsibility. Amid the exponential rise in ratings of “Parliament shows”, a question remains on everyone's mind: how would it have harmed the Mubarak regime if Katatny had become Speaker of Parliament for one parliamentary cycle or more, even if only out of a desire for change? On the whole, people will continue to spend pleasant times or tense times watching Parliament sessions until the time comes for the more important event, the “battle of the constitution”. Then, they will either change the channel, watch it all the time, or protest to demand stopping the broadcast because they are not fond of comedy shows.
