Jacopo Carbonari has shared via The Arabist a schematic diagram that sheds some much-needed light on the relative ideological orientation of Egypt’s political parties. In addition to positioning the parties along two axes — religious/secular and left/right — the map shows the distribution of parties among the four major coalitions: 1) the FJP-dominated Democratic Alliance; 2) the liberal-oriented Egyptian Bloc; 3) the Salafi-led Islamist Alliance; and 4) the youth-driven Completing the Revolution Alliance. In addition to the four official coalitions, the map also identifies the informal category of NDP remnants, representing 7 new parties. It is unclear to what extent the NDP-affiliated parties will cooperate in the upcoming elections, but their candidates — many of whom benefit from pre-revolutionary patronage networks and tribal backing in rural regions  — will be serious contenders in the upcoming elections. 

Image: Map%20of%20EG%20Political%20Parties%2012.11.2011.jpg