The scene yesterday in front and inside of the headquarters of the judicial commission supervising the presidential elections reflected the extent of doubts over intentions. Indeed, flooding the list of candidacies with provisional candidates, in anticipation of measures aimed at excluding one or more Islamist candidates, seemed like a prime example of the distrust prevailing between parties to the political game. It is true that Lieutenant General Omar Suleiman taking the step of applying for candidacy to compete over the seat has caused angry reactions among revolutionary forces, strengthened the belief that the former regime is coming back, and been interpreted as a set scenario being used by the Military Council to duplicate the Yemeni model, after it rejected the Tunisian model. Yet the crisis of trust began long before the presidential electoral race, it persisted, increased in size and continued to snowball until no behavior, decision, measure, statement, or even judicial verdict could be perceived without doubt being shed and intentions being discussed. Of course, the Egyptian presidential elections have placed all political forces – groups, parties, movements and public figures – in jeopardy. And they will all find themselves faced with difficult choices, with which there will be no use for the promotion of conspiracy theories that some of them sometimes resort to in order to evade the truth, turn the facts around or justify their own mistakes. Such theories have been used by all parties, with almost no exceptions, ever since the Mubarak regime fell and revolutionary forces began to fragment, scatter and move from working together to competing or fighting against one another. For instance, the Muslim Brotherhood nominating Engineer Khairat El-Shater as candidate to compete over the presidential seat was considered by some to be a conspiracy weaved by the Military Council and the Brotherhood, and an agreement on handing all powers over to the Islamists in exchange for the military enjoying privileges which the Brotherhood would give its blessing to and pass into law without objection. At the same time, others considered Shater's candidacy to be a conspiracy by the Muslim Brotherhood against the military (!!), the end of the honeymoon that has characterized the relationship between the two sides for about a year, and the portent of a clash that will take place sooner or later between them!! Similarly, the issue of Islamist candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail's mother having US citizenship has also been labeled a conspiracy by his supporters, who considered that the Americans, the Muslim Brotherhood and the military had agreed over excluding the Sheikh, and that all the official documents that have or will come to light proving the Sheikh's mother's US citizenship are fake, forged and fabricated. As for Abu Ismail's competitors, they considered his candidacy to be a conspiracy against Egypt (!!) and one that targets the country's regional standing!! Lieutenant General Omar Suleiman's candidacy was also considered by some to be a conspiracy against the Revolution by the forces of the former regime. The Muslim Brotherhood, the Liberals and the Leftists have agreed over this theory, and considered the military to have pushed forward in the last phase of the race in order to confound everyone. On the other hand, Suleiman's supporters themselves had accused the military, when the man issued a statement in which he apologized about not running in the presidential race, of having pressured to exclude him from the competition in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood candidate!! It is the same conspiracy theory that had been promoted for years, and stated that the world was conspiring against Egypt. And every time an event or a disaster would take place, the conspiracy theory would leap to the forefront, and talk would become widespread of schemes being weaved against Egypt by Israel, America, the West, the East and the lands of make-believe. There are also those who considered the candidacies of Suleiman, Shater and Shafik, as well as the campaign against Sheikh Ismail, were all “conspiracies” aimed at “clearing a path” for Amr Moussa (!!), and that this or that candidate entering or dropping out of the list of candidates merely represent one conspiracy after another in order for the presidential race to end before the real competition even starts, with Amr Moussa assuming the post!! Even the smear campaigns practiced by the supporters of each candidate against the other candidates were explained by some as “conspiracies”, “playacting” and scenarios being accurately followed in order to entrench specific convictions among the population in favor of this or that candidate. The Military Council cannot be absolved of responsibility for such a climate. Indeed, some members of the Military Council have themselves issued statements or accusations against political forces and activists, which they have not proved – entrenching the belief that the Council itself does not stand at an equal distance of all forces present on the scene, but rather coordinates with some and targets others. What is certain is that the electoral campaigns of the candidates to the presidency will witness further polarization, speculation and talk of conspiracies. And the supporters of each candidate will promote these “theories” every time a measure is taken against their candidate, and they will seek to convince people that it is a conspiracy against Egypt, the people or the Revolution… Indeed, the blatant mistakes committed during the transitional period have utterly convinced everyone that it was a “trans-vengeful period” and that each side is taking revenge on the other – and in this there is some truth, as well as some fiction!
