Stop-and-go: Egyptian Civic Opposition Moves Slowly Forward

Since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak, the attention of most international observers has been absorbed by the Islamist movements, particularly by the Muslim Brotherhood. The lack of co-ordination between the different non-Islamist parties and movements means that the current opposition is a nebulous galaxy of actors whose influence on the transitional process has often been neglected. This study is dedicated to those non-Islamist political forces that refuse to be labeled as "secular" and prefer to be known as madani or civic. Since November 2012, the majority of these movements and parties have converged into the National Salvation Front (NSF), under the coordinating direction of Mohamed El Baradei. This study describes the faceoff with the Islamists and the difficult evolution from the streets to the ballot box.

Paper produced within the framework of the IAI project "Egypt in transition".