Inshallah, the days of fraud and deceit are gone. No more stuffing of ballot boxes with fraudulent votes. No more meaningless parliaments existing only to praise the nation's ruler. What we have seen over these last months has been truly remarkable. In truly free and fair elections for the People's Assembly we have seen democracy at work. For the first time, each voter has had just one vote, unlike in the past where many voters had none whilst others had many. After the final round of voting this week in all of Egypt's governorates, in what has been a long and drawn out process, the whole world was pleased to see the people of Egypt able to cast their free votes for the first time. Unlike elections one year ago, which exceeded all others in the way ballot boxes were quite openly stuffed full with NDP votes while voters were prevented from entering polling stations, these first elections after the revolution have been transparently honest. In particular, this week it was a real joy to see the people of Mahalla going to the polls. It was their struggle in opposing injustice that can be said to have been the trigger for much that has happened not only in Egypt this year, but across the whole Arab world. In the same square where the hated image of Egypt's former ruler was pulled down by the citizens of Mahalla, we saw instead election posters for different parties, each with an equal right and an equal chance to be elected. There is still, of course, another round of voting for the Shura Council, but voting for the 498-seat People's Assemble is now complete. For the past decades, both the People's Assembly and the Shura Council have really been the shadow of what a parliament should be. Unable to initiate legislation or call the government to account, let alone criticise the leader of the country, the most they could do was question government ministers. But many parliamentarians did this at their peril. It was not wise to criticise. Inshallah, things will now be different. We can only assume that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces will be true to its word and transfer power in a speedy manner to a civilian government, once all the elections are over. It will be the job of this new parliament to write a new Constitution. Islam, as the religion of most Egyptians, will surely remain the religion of the state. It will be important, though, to put in place a careful system of checks and balances so that the legislative power, the judiciary and the executive remain separate and unable to control the others. Without that, the spectre of dictatorship, either by one man or by one party, cannot be ruled out. In a democracy, the majority is called upon to protect the rights of the minority. It is not a matter of winner takes all, regardless of anyone else. So who is going to sit in this new parliament? The results have not yet been officially declared, but it is no secret that the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, and the Salafist party, Hisb Al-Noor, will between them have around sixty five per cent of the seats. So has Egypt all of a sudden gone religious? Has there been a resurgence of Islam? Are we to have a parliament dominated by religion? Have secular parties been rejected in favour of Black and White policy-making based on religious belief? Will the revolution's ideals of freedom, dignity and social justice for all be subsumed into some scheme to make Egypt an Islamic state governed by Shariah? To say “yes” to any of those questions will be to have ignored completely what has been going on for the last twelve months and more. It is really no surprise that the Islamist parties have done so well in these polls. Egyptians identify themselves, on the whole, by their religious identity. In the absence of any experience or knowledge of politics, the majority have opted for something that they feel they know and understand. The big surprise has really been the success of the Salafists, but they are surely reaping the benefits of what the Muslim Brotherhood has been for many years. For decades, the Muslim Brotherhood, though prevented from taking part in elections, have been the acknowledged opposition to the Mubarak regime. There were others, of course, who opposed Mubarak and their contribution is not to be dismissed, but the members of the Muslim Brotherhood were the ones visibly seen to be arrested on spurious charges and then imprisoned for outlandish reasons, quite beyond the rule of law. As in so many of the countries of North Africa and the Gulf, the mere sight of a beard was enough for the authorities to smell rebellion to their rule and distaste for their methods. For this reason, so many young men were rounded up off the streets and imprisoned. In this sense, then, the people of Egypt have repaid them for what they have been doing for so long. In a society where free and open discussion was difficult and where political assembly was nigh on impossible, it was still possible for people to visit the mosque. Drawing its support from the middle and lower middle class, the Muslim Brotherhood, in a conservative country like Egypt, was able to lead the discourse from the mosque. Egyptian men and women admired the educated doctors, engineers and other professionals who swelled the Brotherhood's ranks and who were so obviously not contaminated by the corruption rife in the ruling party. The Muslim Brotherhood is now also reaping the benefit of its long-term involvement with ordinary people, helping to educate their children and provide food and provisions in time of shortage. During the time when Bird Flu seemed a threat to this country, it was the Muslim Brotherhood, not the Ministry of Health, that provided practical teaching to ordinary citizens on how to wash and clean their food. In contrast, the only experience of government for most people was an autocratic dictatorship that cared only for its own. People don't forget this. We also need to be quite clear, though, that the discourse and the context has changed. The Islamic parties have done well in the context of a revolution which they did not instigate. Egyptians of all religions and of none, secular or liberal, socialist or capitalist, were the ones who overthrew the old regime. They were not religious slogans that ousted Mubarak, but simply the will of a people who had had enough. The election platforms of the Islamic parties this year have not been calling for a Caliphate or for Shariah Law, but for justice and freedom for all, within the context of Islam as the religion of the majority. The Muslim Brotherhood have been quite clear in calling for rights for women, and for a free and fair democratic system that respects the political and religious beliefs of all citizens. These elections are just the beginning. As time passes, people will become more politically aware. The vast number of political parties will no doubt smoothe itself out to just a few, so that people have clear and obvious choices at election time. Being an opposition to the government is one thing. Being the majority in parliament, responsible for positive suggestions on how to solve problems, is quite another. Over the past months, we have seen former National Democratic Party members appearing on foreign news channels under a different guise, speaking in the name of “the people.” Well, in these elections the people have spoken. Yesterday's men and yesterday's ideas have been roundly rejected. Instead, people have turned to what is closest to their hearts. Inshallah, in the coming months and years hearts and minds will work together in building a new country where everyone, whether a man or a woman, has an equal opportunity, regardless of their religion or political beliefs. We now look forward to the Shura Council elections and then the greatest prize of all, the Presidency itself. Let us just hope that along the way we don't forget the ideals of the revolution that began all this, so that Egyptians can turn them into a real revolution in people's lives.
British Muslim writer, Idris Tawfiq, is a lecturer at Al-Azhar University. The author of eight books about Islam, he divides his time between Egypt and the UK as a speaker, writer and broadcaster. You can visit his website at www.idristawfiq.com.
