Polling since February has almost steadily indicated a general decline in the popularity of the country's political forces across the spectrum, suggesting a substantially independent, but equally alienated public. As the new administration appears to be leaning toward a single-candidate, plurality-based electoral system, there are worries it might foreshadow the effective death of the country’s post-January 2011 parties. Single-candidate systems in Egypt, especially in the absence of strong political parties, have tended to benefit those with large amounts of financial backing, with the (at times, not-so-tacit) endorsement of the state or with prominent families. Often, all three have ended up being the same person. This approach to elected representation does not seem like the best recipe for transitioning to a multiparty democracy, especially given the condition of many of the existing parties.

The National Salvation Front and secular-leaning parties

In a July 2013 Zogby poll shortly after the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, only 597 out of some 5,000 respondents (or 12%) nationwide “expressed confidence” in the National Salvation Front (NSF), down from 1,111 respondents in favor of them in May. The front is the umbrella for secular-leaning parties and was formed in November 2012 to oppose Morsi’s constitutional declaration granting himself extensive powers. It has carried on since as an anti-Islamist political alliance, but its future remains uncertain amid internal differences and the controversial resignation of its former leader, Mohamed ElBaradei, from the country’s vice presidency.

The Zogby confidence figure for the NSF contrasts significantly with the 1,194 (24%, and only slightly down from 1,308 in May) for the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and 1,118 (22%, down from 1,452) for Al-Nour, the leading Salafi party. The controversial April 6 Movement scored a remarkable 1,125 expressions of confidence (22%, down from 1,250). The Tamarod (Rebellion) campaign, a newcomer, scored the highest, with 1,635 positive responses. Most indicative, 1,387 (32% of respondents) said they had no confidence in any of the parties. Though relatively high, this interestingly represented a drop, from 1,944 (almost 40%) in May. Of course, this is all different from asking who people would actually vote for, but it is still an important indicator of tendencies and the general mood.