The Fall of Both Mubarak’s Regime and the Legal Opposition Essay

Introduction : By the end of Mubarak’s rule, the legalised political opposition in Egypt was already a mirror to the regime it was presumed to challenge: discreditable, central, aging and undemocratic. Systematic state repression and internal divisions fragmented the opposition and deviated it from the role assumed by its counterparts in liberal democracies. Instead of competitive interaction with the regime, the legal opposition stationed itself as an integral part of the authoritarian polity. Years of regime-opposition dynamics ended with the latter’s alignment with the regime and becoming more of a domesticated opposition. This clientelist relationship was necessary for the survival of the semi-authoritarian regime. It enabled it to claim legitimacy by presenting cosmetic democracy/pluralism measures while at the same time keeping the dominance of its ruling party. It also lured the weak fragmented legalised opposition into competing to gain the regime’s support. Overview: Egypt moved from full-scale authoritarianism under Nasser to liberalized autocracy under Sadat and Mubarak. During its early rule in the 1980s, Mubarak’s regime showed relative political tolerance and moderation (stacher 2004), giving hope to legal opposition that the break up of the single-party system was the beginning of a transition phase that will lead to democratization and the possibility to compete on even terms with the ruling NDP. During this period it was the Neo-Wafd which had the most comprehensive organizational capacities and was designated to lead the legalized opposition camp from which Islamist movements were excluded (Shehata, 2009). However, those expectations proved to be naive as the regime soon made clear that it was not inte... ...e, E. (1998), More than a Response to Islamism: The Political Deliberalization of Egypt in the 1990s’ Middle East Journal, Vol. 52, No. 2, p. 219. 3- Stacher, J. (2004), Parties Over: The Demise of Egypt’s Opposition Parties , British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, pp 215–23. 4- Albrecht, H. (2005) How can opposition support authoritarianism? Lessons from Egypt, Democratization, pp 378-397. 5- Shehata, D. (2009), Islamists and Secularists in Egypt: Opposition, Conflict & Cooperation, London, Routledge. 6- Arafat, A. (2009), The Mubarak Leadership and Future of Democracy in Egypt, New York, Palgrave Macmillan. 7- Kassem, M. (2004), Egyptian Politics: The Dynamics of Authoritarian Rule, Colorado, Lynne Rienner publishers. 8- Kienle, E. (1998), More than a Response to Islamism: The Political Deliberalization of Egypt, Middle East Journal, Vol. 52, p. 219.