The third way

By Khaled Fahmy
Al-Masry Al-Youm

".....A third way?

There is no doubt that we are now witnessing a revealing moment in the history of the revolution. More and more people are realizing that the gloves are now off and that the political landscape that has been shaped by the revolution has acquired a new shape. The huge multitudes who took to the streets following the verdict indicate the strong repulsion for the institutions of the deep state and suggest a growing belief that a third alternative, one that is neither the security state nor the religious state, may hold the key to getting us out of the current impasse.

It is too soon to figure out what this third alternative looks like, and only the following few days will reveal which form it will take. Soon we will be able to find out whether or not this third alternative can avoid the trap choosing between the military fascism that former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq is offering us and the religious populism that Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsy represents. But a short detour to modern Egyptian history might shed light on the harbingers of this third way, and show how it has become nearly inevitable.......

As for the second flank that formed Egypt’s political scene over the past 60 years, the Muslim Brotherhood, the group was equally caught off-guard by the Mubarak trial verdict. It is true that the verdict has increased the chances of the Brotherhood’s candidate winning the second round of the presidential election, but it is not the first time since the revolution that the Brotherhood has found itself winning tactically but losing strategically. For what is the ultimate goal of acquiring posts and controlling institutions if you lack vision, if you cannot deliver and if you lose supporters? The Brotherhood, like the military, is facing an existential crisis stemming from its realization that its long historical experience has not proved useful in dealing with the current revolutionary moment.

The only force that is capable of extracting us from the present crisis is this third way whose history can be traced all the way back to the 19 century, which has ignited the 25 January revolution, and which is gaining self-confidence day after day. In contrast to other political forces that bask in past glories or that are mired licking their own wounds, this third way, which does not even have a name, face or shape, is the only force that has a vision. And as politically savvy this third way appears to be, it is its poetry - not its politics - that promises a salvation."