Election Time

Can you feel it, folks? Elections are in the air.
Everywhere you look around Egypt, there are banners waving, posters declaring the campaign promises of the various candidates they promote, candidates and their supporters driving around in pick up trucks with loud speakers- sharing their hopes for a reformed and stable Egypt with hopeful voters. Yes, friends, Egyptian parliamentary elections are tomorrow.
Now, what does this mean for Egypt?
There are several ways to look at this question- so let's start from the bottom up. According to Monica-Polling, when asked "do you plan on voting on Sunday?" 100% of respondents have said "no." Most respondents say that there is no point in voting. Only one person has said that they have actually voted in prior elections. Mostly, they say that they all know it's rigged, they know who is going to win, so why bother? Why take the chance? The "Hezb al Watani al Democrati" (The National Democratic Party) will surely win and Gamal Mubarek, whose campaign posters are already floating around Egypt although the presidential elections are a year away and he has not officially declared his candidacy, will also certainly be Egypt's next president.
When asked specifically about the Muslim Brotherhood, probably Egypt's largest opposition group who has been vying for power since the 1970s and who currently has about 88 seats in parliament, respondents have expressed a wide variety of feelings. Some say they do not like the Brotherhood because they do not want religion to rule politics. They find the prospect dangerous and scary, although they do fully support the Brotherhood's right to run in free and fair elections. Other respondents are not so wary of the Brotherhood, believing that they might do a better job at responding to Egypt's plethora of problems as they so far demonstrate considerable political prowess through their massive organization efforts and their ability to recruit and energize Egypt's youth. For instance- a personal anecdote- often, in my university class, my professors arrive 45 minutes to an hour late. More than once, student representatives of the Brotherhood have come in to our classroom and spoken with the students before the professor arrives. The first time, they typed up a survey asking what the students of Alexandria University want to see changed and reformed in the school- anything from improving the facilities, cleaner bathrooms, higher quality teachers etc. Another time, they made a little game- quizzing the students of the class about Egyptian history, Islamic history, the history of the Brotherhood, and Egyptian soccer. They had bought cakes and candies and gave them out as prizes for those who answer correctly. Another time, they came and led the students in prayer. Personal opinions aside, the Brotherhood is a skillful political entity that has been able to energize those who are generally a very politically apathetic group (and I say generally because there are obviously many many exceptions).

Another way to answer this question, "what do the elections mean for Egypt?" is to look at what happens on the ground. I have been told three times not to leave the apartment tomorrow because there will definitely be protests, clashes, and violence (don't worry, Mom, I promise I'll be fine! If it was actually dangerous the program would tell us not to leave!!) So far, in Alexandria alone, specifically areas of the city that are known Muslim Brotherhood strongholds, there have already been protests several times a week and arrests of more than 100 Brotherhood supporters. It is clear that although the elections won't necessarily affect the actual politics and policies of the country, there is wide felt feeling of urgency to reform the political system and make for more democratic practices amongst the citizens. At the same time, it is also very clear that the government does not necessarily feel this same urgency and is in fact quite resistant to it.

In terms of politics, as I've said, the actually elections will probably have very little impact. The ruling party probably already knows the outcome of the elections and it seems that voter participation will be very low. It seems that the government will not be letting in many international election monitors and that Monday morning, not much will have changed in the country. Leading up to the elections, many of the smaller opposition parties toyed with the idea of boycotting the elections, just to emphasize their disapproval of the electoral system and the corruption of the government. However, in the end, most opposition parties will be running their candidates, but it seems that the Brotherhood, who, as I said have 88 seats in parliament, will probably lose more than half of these seats to the NDP.

Here are a few good articles if you are interested in learning more:
Al Masri Al Yom: Elections in Alexandria: 'Ministers aren't allowed to lose'
Foreign Policy Magazine: Free media under siege on eve of Egypt’s elections 
And generally, Al Masri Al Yom has an entire election section on their online newspaper.
Al Masri El Yom Election Section

Also:

Remember all those American commercials encouraging us to vote? Here's an Egyptian one:

Egyptian Voting Commercial

The man standing there is saying,
"I've grown weary. Seriously, weary. Life in Egypt has become impossible. There is no security in anything.
There is no apartments. There are no jobs. There's no marriage. There is no freedom of expression. There is no respect for (something I didn't understand, sorry). There is no love between people. There's no education. There is no medical treatment. There is no dignity. There is no dignity. There is no point!"

After the minister gets a computer dropped on him- the voice says, "No! There is [a point]. Care about changing your life and choosing your future. You have a voice!"
(in Arabic voice and vote are the same word- sot, so this could be saying you have a voice or you have a vote).

Although many of us are disappointed in the way our midterm elections turned out, let's all take a moment and be grateful for the country we live in and the freedoms that we do have.