The Elections Have Started But the Final Verdict Will Be Over Results

I write on Monday morning amid a high turnout for the first stage of the elections in Egypt, and a perhaps unexpected sense of calm surrounding the polling centers, so hopefully these elections, in all three stages of them, will end as they started. Egyptian voters are split between the candidates. While this is understandable in all elections and in every country, the Egyptians are also split over the elections themselves. The Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters want them so bad that they boycotted the recent million-strong protests against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). By contrast, the liberals say that the elections will be held in an undemocratic atmosphere, and have thus rejected their results in advance, before splitting into a group that boycotted the elections and another that has called for its supporters to go to the polls to lessen the Islamists’ projected victory. I venture to say that the Muslim Brotherhood will emerge from the legislative elections in the lead, and I hope that they will act after that in a wise manner that would reflect their 80 years of political experience. They must therefore not intimidate their rivals, and not attempt to impose their convictions over the whole of society. In fact, the Muslim Brotherhood’s experience in politics prompts me to expect a positive stance by them, while realizing that they have two political discourses: A declared one that we hear every day, and another long-term one that represents the convictions of their leadership. The elections, albeit significant, are not the most important issue in Egypt today, and to me, the economy and security come first. The Egyptian economy is in a severe crisis. Its major revenue streams like tourism, foreign investments and local manufacturing have dropped significantly. The budget deficit is high, to the extent that Egypt may have to accept a limited-term loan of 3.2 billion dollars that was offered by the World Bank in the summer, and which was rejected at the time. Furthermore, a third of the budget goes today to the governmental subsidy of fuel and other basic commodities. All this will not change until there security is established throughout the whole country, and here, I accuse all the parties on the political arena of being responsible for its collapse. The youths of the revolution are holding protests to call for the departure of SCAF, but this reflects the absence of their political experience, not just the lack thereof. We all want a civilian rule to succeed the military within very few months. However, the withdrawal of the army to its barracks means leaving the country in the hands of inexperienced youths, opportunist professional politicians and common criminals, as well as thugs and gangs of murder, narcotics and so forth. The youths believe that they represent all Egyptians; but even if they managed to mobilize another million-strong rally as soon as tomorrow, a million Egyptians are in the end only 1.2 percent of the total population. This is Egypt, not an island-state in the South Pacific. The youths are not responsible alone: the police continues to be inept, or violent and in breach of the law, and we heard for example that 17 journalists had been arrested with some assaulted in police stations. In fact, something even worse happened, when my friend, renowned Egyptian activist Mona Eltahaway was beaten, had her arms broken, was dragged by her hair into the ‘precinct’, and then assaulted there. The incident, however, was no rare occurrence. For instance, we read about Carolina Sinz, from the French Television, who was subjected to a similar assault that started with teenagers, and ended with adult “revolutionaries” raping her. Then, the youths want SCAF to step down, and they have put the Prime Minister’s office under siege to prevent Dr. Kamal Ganzouri from entering…In other words, security is lax even under SCAF and a Prime Minister in place, and yet they want to rule without any practical experience whatsoever. Egypt is the mother of the world, or at least my world. Perhaps there are selfish motives in my love for Egypt, because I have always maintained that the Arab world will not be in a good state of affairs until Egypt is. For this reason, good governance, stability, security and economic recovery, as well as civil accord, are all matters that are required in and for themselves. Only then would the Arab countries follow Egypt in the path towards a democratic and civilian rule. The legislative elections have started, but the final verdict will be over results. khazen@alhayat.com