WATANI International
11 December 2011
The first round of the People’s Assembly elections is now over and the countdown for the second round has begun. Before embarking on an analysis of the positive and negative aspects the event involved, one should acknowledge the unprecedented leap voter turnout. Some 52 per cent of Egypt’s eligible voters flocked to the polls, against an ignoble 20 per cent—or even less—in elections prior to the 25 January Revolution. The new turnout is undoubtedly cause for pride and reflects voter enthusiasm and conviction that, from now on, votes really count.
I hope this rate would rise in the remaining two phases because the newly-born Egypt deserves our utmost effort and expects us to have a say in the making of her future. To the moderates and advocates of a democratic, civil State, I say: the struggle to save Egypt from the clutches of the theocratic rule is not yet over. We should by no means consider that the remarkable first round win by the Muslims Brotherhood (MB) and Salafis has determined the final election outcome. Despite the frustration and resentment of not-a-few civil-State advocates who believe the race is already lost, this is by no means the case. The first round’s results should impel us to persevere to the end.
A priori, we must rid ourselves of the illusion that the electoral process was free of malpractices. These must be acknowledged in order to be avoided in the coming two rounds, so that the utmost fairness and transparency may be achieved. If we begin with the positive aspects of the balloting process, it is fair to admit that the violence and voter intimidation which had been a fixture with previous elections, retreated remarkably this time. Egyptians from all walks of life flocked to polling stations and queued for hours to cast their votes. The remarkable number of seniors and women was a source of delight and optimism. Voters even tolerated some irregularities including the delay in opening polling stations due to the late arrival of some judges and the shortage in voting forms. The large number of voters led the High Election Commission (HEC) to extend the voting time from the original 7:00pm to 9:00pm.
The irregularities that marred the first stage were numerous and their harmful impact on both candidates and voters ought not to be disregarded under the pretext that the malpractices were minor or that they had no major effects on the results. Judges, candidate representatives or party alliances who committed abuses were reported and will be referred to the court. The HEC leniency and passivity in dealing with this indiscretion were striking, however, and aroused fears of the commission’s weakness and inability—an indication that the situation might be worse in the upcoming balloting.
We heard of no move taken by the HEC against judges who refused to sign voting forms, telling the voters: “if you object, do not vote!” Nor did we hear of any HEC move against those who broke the rules that ban campaigning outside polling stations on the day of the poll, those who used religious slogans in their campaign, or those who levelled accusations of apostasy and hostility to Islam against their rivals. Nothing was said about the face-veiled women who insisted on not revealing their faces to the judges who in their turn succumbed to this intransigence.
During the transportation of the ballot boxes for vote counting, chaos, confusion, and lack of discipline reigned. The stories of wrongdoing here are alarming since they cast doubt over the fairness and credibility of the vote count and thus on the entire election process, and place a huge responsibility upon the HEC since it exposes serious administrative shortcoming.
The HEC has much work to do to rid the two upcoming election rounds of the irregularities that marred the first, and maintain the impetus that stood behind the determination of the ‘silent majority’ to abandon its legendary passivity and flock to the polling stations. It is unthinkable that the silent majority should be dragged back into passivity. I call upon the people not to fall into despair but to rise to fulfil the national duty, since it is all too obvious that certain parties are disturbed by the silent majority’s new activism and eager to exclude it from the process of making the future of the homeland.