When the Kefaya (“enough”) movement emerged in Egypt a few years ago, it included in its ranks members belonging to various political movements. Moreover, the Muslim Brotherhood had limited representation within it, as it always prefers to run its own activities by itself, so that it may benefit from their positive results if they are achieved, as well as avoid being held responsible by any party – especially the government – for the mistakes or the behavior of others. “Kefaya” caused tremendous uproar when it first emerged, not only as a result of the slogans it raised and sought to achieve, but also because it included public figures that held substantial influence among the circles of the Egyptian elite. Yet the movement has engaged in side battles with other parties in the opposition that have affected its activity, as it on one hand waged a battle against Dr. Refaat El-Saeed, Chairman of the Tagammu party (National Progressive Unionist Party), while entering into a slander exchange with the Muslim Brotherhood on the other. It seemed that the goal put forward by Kefaya, meaning here an end to the rule of President Hosni Mubarak, had not been achieved, when Mubarak won the last presidential elections. As for the other goal it sought to achieve, “no to handing down power”, it had never existed at the practical level, and this became especially true after Mubarak was effectively elected. The movement began to lose the spotlight after the death of one of its most prominent founders, Dr. Abdel Wahab El-Messiri, despite the fact that the movement and its remaining figures sought and made sure to be present with participants in demonstrations and protests, spread out on the stairways of labor unions and in front of the headquarters of government or parliamentary agencies. Yet Egyptian society had begun to change. Economic and social crisis did indeed make people protest, yet not for political issues but rather for issues pertaining to their livelihood. Thus people removed politics from their list of daily life priorities, and their interest began to focus on salaries, raises, overtime wages and yearly or monthly bonuses and financial advantages, on preserving the integrity of government-run companies being privatized, or on disparaging the advantages obtained by some employees and workers. It is true that all of these issues fall under the umbrella of politics, but ordinary citizens now keep their eyes on the ground, as circumstances no longer allow them to look away, and they are no longer concerned much with issues of extending terms or handing down power. Indeed, ordinary citizens now believe those to be the concerns of the elite, which they do not belong to, as well as expressions and slogans that would only be raised by the wealthy, which they are not. A day no longer passes by without us finding a group of citizens raising banners of protests somewhere to demand their financial rights, to the point that protest news now hold permanent timeslots on the programs of Egypt-based satellite television channels and now have their own stars and permanent commentators, and politics has withdrawn to the background. Even the leaders of the Kefaya movement can now be found present at class protests providing support, after concern with politics has gone with the wind… The climate of the parliamentary election scheduled next year in Egypt might bring politics back to the forefront, as has been the case with every election in the past, but it is feared that it will return to the image that only the political elite would see as well. Then the government will quarrel with opposition forces and the voices of the elites will rise over political demands, while a number of citizens will be raising different banners in different places, demanding subsidies… or raises.
