THE large number of citizens that voted for leftist candidate Hamdeen Sabahi and Islamist revolutionary candidate Abdel-Moneim Abul Fotouh, totalling around 10 million, proves that those who have supported the revolution are much greater in number than the people who demonstrated in the street during the last 15 months. These citizens might not be so active and may not have joined the revolutionaries in their demonstrations during the first 18 days of the revolution or the succeeding 15 months of the transitional period. However, they have proved patient with the hope of reaching this stage of electing a civil president representing the revolution and genuinely enforcing its motto of bread, dignity, and social justice. Now, these Egyptians are really depressed and dismayed following the defeat of their candidates in the first round of the elections. What should we do? This is the question that everyone has raised since the preliminary disclosure of the elections results that brought Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate and Ahmed Shafiq, the ousted president's final prime minister to the run-off. Should they listen to the advice of some analysts in choosing between the two bitter choices to reach the least harmful one? Or should they boycott the whole process? Should they take to the street and rebel against the entire process? Or should they return to the shadow and abandon politics as they used to do during the long military rule of Mubarak? Some people feel that these disastrous results of the first presidential elections after January revolution is the end of the dream of creating a democratic civil state of Egypt. Others see it as a mere phase that could be amended in the any coming elections whether parliamentary or presidential or even in a referendum on the new constitution. Agreeing with this latter opinion, I urge all the citizens that voted to the revolutionary candidates, not to resort to the old laxity and to keep a strong hold on their rights of participating in the political scene, so as not to clear the stage for the two autocratic and Islamist powers to impose their respective visions on post-revolutionary Egypt. Instead, a clear presence in the scene would force the incoming president, regardless of his background, to offer concessions and amend his strategy to please this strong bloc of citizens that insist on fulfilling their dream of the revolution. To fulfill this goal, we should agree on a plan that does not actually include putting pressure on either of the two candidates at the time being and before the run-off to offer guarantees to adopt policies close to the revolutionary vision or to appoint the revolutionary candidates or any of the noted political activists as their vice-president or head of the government, in return for voting for him. In my opinion, this is political opportunism and blackmail that a reputable revolutionary should not resort to especially if really disagreeing with the ideology and strategy of that candidate. Besides, neither of these two candidates are really trusted by the majority of people and could give promises that they would eventually break for different pretexts. Thus, the solution is to announce declaration of the two candidates not via demonstrations that could be infiltrated by some thugs to turn into a bloodbath or an excuse for a military coup that would consolidate military rule in Egypt. Rather, the respectable citizens should take the trouble to stand in the long queues of the voters under the hot sun of June to express their rejection of the two candidates by crossing out their names, symbols and photos on the ballot paper and even adding the name of the revolutionary candidates they hoped to have as their first president of post-revolution Egypt. Some might see it a naïve procedure that is not acceptable to the domestic or the international community. However, the Egyptian revolution was unique in its peaceful nature. So why do we not introduce a new approach of civil protest to a suspect political and election process, especially coming after such a great revolution such as that of Egypt? Following such a procedure will certainly not bring our candidate to the presidential palace, nor will it convince the Higher Presidential Elections Committee to cancel the election process. Instead, it would convey a clear message to all parties including the coming president that those who voted against him are much greater in number than those that voted for him – and that he actually reached the presidential seat with a very low minority of support. Therefore, the incoming president would think twice before retracting promises he made before reaching the seat. The other significant point of this procedure is to show the different officials that supporters of the revolution are a hard nut for any one to crack. They could make a strong presence in the coming referendum on the yet –to-be-written constitution. If this constitution does not meet the aspirations of these citizens and violates the principles of the revolution, they can vote against it. Besides, it is time to revive real party life in Egypt. It could be a blessing for this country that the defeat and withdrawal of some respectable figures such as Sabahi, Abul Fotouh and Mohamed ElBaradei would prompt them to found political parties from which they can amass their supporters and enforce their vision on the political scene even from the strong opposition seat that was long vacant in Egypt. ElBaradei has already made the start and announced the founding of Al-Dustour (the constitution) Party. And both Abul Fotouh and Sabahi are considering following suit. These parties would be born strong because of the hot climate they are being created in and that they would absorb the different revolutionary powers and coalitions that have suffer dispersal since the toppling of the old regime. Despite the dark picture seen by the revolutionaries of two of the least wanted candidates reaching the run-off , one could still see some benefits in this condition if we consider the real economic, social and security crisis the country was suffering during the last three decades of rule of Mubarak and which even deteriorated more during the transitional period. Any new president would be castigated by the public if unable to fulfill their aspiration of restoring security and prosperity to their life in the shortest possible time. Even if a president came from the revolutionary front, the Egyptians might turn against him if he could not offer the magic solution to all their troubles. This means that the least lucky candidate is the one to win the run-off on June 16 and 17. What is really important is to gather hands and stands for not enabling any of the two possible presidents to change identity of Egypt the way prevent organising fair transparent elections after that. This needs a lot of work to ensure continuous presence in the scene so that the new president will never forget that what brought him to the seat was the great revolution, even if he did not really believe in it.
