20111213 Islam Times According to the preliminary results that may change, the Egyptian Islamists got in the first round of elections with the relative list 64% of the votes, gaining a clear advantage not on the rest of the forces and parties only, but also on the most optimistic expectations of the leaders of the religious partisan extremist, centrist and moderate blocs likewise.
The “Muslim Brotherhood” party, with its allies in the list of the Democratic Alliance, got 36% of the votes, while the extremist Salafis with their diversity within Al-Nour party got 24%, which is twice what was expected in the best cases. Al-Wasat Party, led by Abul-Ela Madi, a defector from the Muslim Brotherhood since 1996, got 4% of the votes, and according to the outcomes of the primary indicators the religious bloc will get the same percentage.
The liberals, leftists, nationalists and the forces of the revolution, those who launched, ignited the spark of, spread, and started the revolution of the Tahrir Square, got the rest of the percentage. The Egyptian Bloc, which includes the Nazareth leftist Assembly, the liberal millionaire Sawiris, and a number of small parties got 15%, the liberal Al-Wafd party got 8%, and the ongoing alliance of the revolution got 3%. While, the rest of the votes were distributed among the rest of the blocs and parties with a varying percentage sometimes reaching up to twenty-fold.
The most prominent note in the results is that the parties, which made the revolution and participated in it since the first day, and have even paved the way for the revolution and drawn its way years ago, did not yet attain what they deserve of appreciation. One can also say that the results of this round of elections came as a punishment and have disappointed many who were betting on the democratic process regarding the election’s pace that took place before setting a constitution for the country and granting the new forces their chance to organize and prepare for the election battle.
Of course, we will find shinning names in the individual competition among those fighters and we will see revolutionary youth entering into politics from the widest doors, but certainly until this moment the forces of the January 25 revolution, who are present at the Tahrir Square, and what this square represents in the conscience of Egypt and the Arab nation, did not find their real conversions in the Egyptian elections, which took place late last month.
There is no room here to explain what happened, and the results of the elections were truly the best comparing with any previous elections in the history of Egypt in terms of the participation rate, or the credibility of results, but what matters here is to warn of the seriousness of the conclusions that can be recognized after approaching the results and viewing the large percentage obtained by the Salafi group and those following it.
When talking about the success of the centrists and moderates in the religious trend such as the Muslim Brotherhood and the Center Party (not as much of), we cannot miss mentioning the gloomy image of the success of the Wahhabi extremist bloc, which has gained results that will make all the Islamic religious trends become a hostage to those Salafis. We have noted how the Brotherhood party is aware of the traps of the Salafis and are forced to fight their battles in many of the times, not to mention the sources of their financing, their external links, and their rejection of the Arab identity and its unitary trends.
Talking about purchasing stores and clubs in the Haram street, regardless of the nature of the activity of these places, (which are often touristic), by institutions owned by wealthy people who belong to these people, and the start of the competition in this street aiming at giving it the appearance of goodness and seeking to Islamize the society and laws the same way as witnessed through the beards and the way of clothing chosen by those people, as well as their view of the public and private freedom, women and other issues of urbanization and civilization - not to mention the dozens of the alarming indicators regarding the quality of life sought by those to be imposed on the rest of the society, including its political life - all this indicates that the Egyptian democracy began to produce its opposite, if this issue was not rectified in the coming rounds, including the presidential and the Shura Council elections, or the two rounds of elections for the rest of the provinces and districts.
Warning of the seriousness of the results does not mean rejecting them or to circumvent them, for this is unacceptable and do not address any issue. However, what is meant is the fact that there would be a high price paid by the Egyptian citizen and the Egyptian state when seeking freedom, democracy, and participation, and that it is not too late to rectify this issue towards easing this price and fitting within the limits of Egypt’s ability to afford it, especially since there are issues relating to the nation that are awaiting it on the edge of the future that are almost griping everyone without exception.
It is time for challenge at all the social, economic, intellectual, cultural, scientific, and primarily political levels, as it is time for breaking the dependency and restoring the role and real face of Egypt. In fact, this is difficult in the presence of the obscure and various forces at the head of the authority or in its heart. The Egyptians said their word and we must respect it, and it is Egypt’s best to fight the democratic experiment and to pay its price severely rather than remaining under the military rule and the subservience to America and its hands remain shackled by the Camp David.
The final results did not show yet and we will find the implications of the alarming indicators in those results whether we like it or not. Therefore, we must build our calculations for the future on this basis. In all cases, finding causes and addressing them quickly will be the task and the main concern for people who have insight and are heavy headed. The more we have the courage to put our hands on the nest of wasps and to face our shortcomings and inadequacies firmly, the more we can reduce the size of the people’s suffering and give good tidings to the nation.
|