A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

ElBaradei Bandwagon: Slowing Down?

Many of Mohamed ElBaradei's reformist supporters in Egypt are growing disillusioned with their hero's record to date. We've touched on some of these complaints before, but The National gives a good summing up.

They're catching on that a man who's spent decades outside Egypt, has no campaigning experience (outside of international organizations, anyway), no well-organized infrastructure, and is up against a pro-government official media and an opposition press which agrees only that Mubarak must go, may not be a recipe for victory in an entrenched, dominant party and a widely-questioned electoral system, may not be able to walk on water after all.

You'll hear more from me as my recovery proceeds.

1 comment:

LJ Marczak said...

I wonder if there is a bit of rivalry and status consciousness at work as well.

Judge ElKhodeiry's comments are telling. "We are all senior personalities." "We work with him not for him".

The number of small hobby parties each with its own big man gives senior personalities ample scope to be senior.

And the Egyptian Administration amply opportunity to play them off against one another.