On the Anniversary of January: Positive Boycott as Our Path to Confronting the Dictator

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

Much like how the Revolutionary Socialists initially announced their participation in the presidential elections through Khaled Ali’s campaign as a way to resist the counter-revolution and its regime, we, along with the campaign, later decided to withdraw as a different approach to continue that resistance.
In a short time, the campaign worked to unite opposition forces and create a program they could all support. It gathered hundreds, even thousands, of young people around the goal of change. In an impressive timeframe, it managed to break through the stagnation and paralysis imposed by the counter-revolutionary regime and paved the way for action.

When it became clear that the regime would not allow any actual political activity in the presidential elections and wouldn’t even try to meet the basic requirements of a fair electoral process, the campaign, through its democratic decision-making, chose to withdraw. This decision exposed the sham nature of the elections and rejected the role that the authoritarian regime wanted the campaign to play. The campaign stayed true to its original purpose: rallying forces against oppression and impoverishment.

The efforts of the campaign’s members and its political allies didn’t start with the presidential campaign. “A Path to Tomorrow” was part of a long-standing struggle against tyranny, oppression, land concessions, impoverishment, and rising living costs that the regime has been pushing since 2013. Despite the many challenges faced by the campaign—mass arrests of its members and supporters, fabricated charges, and various restrictions—it worked to bring together those who opposed the ceding of Tiran and Sanafir, the storming of the Journalists’ Syndicate, and the collusion with Israel and the U.S. to undermine the Palestinian cause. It also rallied those who stood with the working class and people experiencing poverty against the policies of the International Monetary Fund and those who fought against repression, torture, silencing of dissent, and the suppression of freedom of expression. The campaign’s withdrawal from the elections continues this struggle and follows through on what it has already achieved.

The “Path to Tomorrow” that the campaign started must be continued by keeping the unity it achieved among different forces, bringing more supporters on board, and turning the electoral program into a set of demands that opposition movements can use. The campaign should keep going, alongside its young members and volunteers, to challenge the sham elections and expose their flaws—from the imaginary achievements Sisi announced to the lack of competition, the buying of endorsements, and the suppression of any genuine attempt to change the ridiculous situation—and reveal the authoritarian practices that the regime doesn’t even try to hide.

On the seventh anniversary of the January Revolution, the Revolutionary Socialists reaffirm their commitment to continuing the struggle through all available means, alongside all those fighting for the revolution’s goals. Withdrawing from the presidential elections is not a retreat from the battle but a reaffirmation of it. Just as participating in the elections was a tool for resistance, not a gamble on a sham process managed by an authoritarian regime, the steps taken by the “Path to Tomorrow” campaign are just the beginning of a journey that the forces of resistance will continue together to achieve the goals chanted during the January Revolution seven years ago: “Bread, Freedom, Social Justice.”