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Two Futures for Egypt Clash In the Conflict of the Squares

The war of the squares, or the mass rallies organized by Egypt's opposition and the Islamists, show each ideology trying to flex its muscles by mobilizing the street.
A protester opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi stands on top of an electric tram column as he waves an Egyptian flag during a protest in front of El-Thadiya presidential palace in Cairo June 30, 2013. Millions of Egyptians flooded into the streets on the first anniversary of Islamist President Mursi's inauguration on Sunday to demand that he resign in the biggest challenge so far to rule by his Muslim Brotherhood.  REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh  (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX117Z3

The Tamarod movement in Egypt came to fill a vacuum created by the absence of strong, well-entrenched, mass-based political parties. This is expected, since Egypt is emerging from six decades of authoritarianism that closed down the political space and confiscated political life. It also obstructed the creation and evolution of party politics.

Another factor for the emergence of Tamarod lies in the shaky legitimacy of the salvation front. It is a loose coalition of important personalities and of mostly small, newly created, elitist political parties. Beyond their common unified opposition to the newly established Muslim Brotherhood regime, they have different ideological sensibilities, political views and governing agendas ranging from liberal to nationalist to socialist to a combination of some of these ideologies. The asymmetry is due to the enormous resources and the iron discipline of the Muslim Brotherhood.

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