The military’s partial concession over elections put the protestors under pressure, because though theirs is a large and vocal movement, it falls a long way short of a majority. The military for many years kept the Muslim Brotherhood at arm’s length, but the elections are a concession that the Brotherhood is best placed to win, since they are the longer-standing and deeper-rooted opposition in Egypt – more’s the pity.
The most recent protests did seem to have the character of a frustration with the electoral process, which is problematic, because it exposes the weakness of the secular left’s support for democracy. If the protests become an alternative to fighting for the votes of the masses, then the left risks putting itself at odds with the people. More likely, the protest mood ebbs away with the opening up of the electoral process, in which case the left’s degree of popular support will come under a harsh light. These are difficult problems, but nobody said democracy was easy.