Kefaya's new leader vows group's revival

Cairo: Having apparently lost its clout over the past two years, Egypt's protest group Kefaya (Enough) has vowed to rejuvenate its tactics after electing a new leader.

Abdul Halim Qandil, a vociferous critic of President Hosni Mubarak, was elected last week to steer the helm of Kefaya, a loose umbrella of leftists, secularists, Islamists and liberals.

"Kefaya will restructure itself in order to achieve its main aim, which is to introduce real political changes in Egypt," said Qandil, who took over from Mustafa Abdul Gelil, a medical professor.

When created in 2004, Kefaya broke a long-held taboo in Egyptian politics. It led street protests against Mubarak, particularly in the run-up to Egypt's 2005 first competitive presidential election swept by the 80-year-old president.

"We'll learn from our mistakes," Qandil, the editor of the opposition weekly Sout Al Uma, said.

"We plan to strengthen our links with the masses and field contenders in the 2011 legislative elections."

Last year a Cairo court sentenced Qandil and three other opposition journalist to one year each in jail for slandering senior officials in the ruling National Democratic Party including Mubarak.

The four have appealed against the ruling. No final verdict has been passed yet.

"A main component of Kefaya's action plan in the near future is to create an alliance with all other political powers, including the Muslim Brotherhood," said Qandil.

The Muslim Brotherhood, banned since 1954, is Egypt's major opposition force. Its members contested the 2005 legislative elections as independents and garnered one fifth of the seats.

Qandil threatened civil disobedience as an option to bring about changes.

"Given that Hamas, which is a small movement, managed to score victory over the Zionist entity [Israel] in Gaza, the Egyptian people, as a peaceful resistance movement, can achieve their cherished objective of change," added Qandil.

Mubarak has been in power since 1981, and never appointed a deputy

Observers, however, disagree with Qandil's ambitious agenda. "The problem with Kefaya is that its birth was abnormal," said Al Aref Ballah Abdullah, a professor of politics at Ain Shams University in Cairo.