THAT none of the revolutionary powers' candidates reached the presidential election run-off has depressed members of the public to the extent that many have called on the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate Mohamed Morsi to withdraw in the interests of Hamdeen Sabbahi, the revolutionary candidate who came third in the race. When the revolutionary powers failed to convince Morsi of the idea, they suggested the formation of a presidential council comprised of him, Sabbahi and Abdul Moneim Abul Fotouh to rule the country in this critical stage. However, this suggestion also was turned down by the Muslim Brothers, who promised, however, to have vice presidents and the next prime minister from outside their group if Morsi won the run-off. Nevertheless, the revolutionary powers continued to apply pressure to get Ahmed Shafiq, the final prime minister in the Mubarak regime, out of the race via the political exclusion law. Their attempts were aborted just two days ahead of the presidential election by the Constitutional Court ruling that the law issued by parliament was non-constitutional. The aim of this political marathon was not so much to get Hamdeen Sabbahi in the run-off as to save the people from being squeezed between the military men of the toppled regime and the Muslim Brotherhood with their project to Islamise the state. As all efforts ended in failure, the people have no other choice but to choose between the two available alternatives. The majority believes that neither meets their aspirations for the first president of post-Revolution Egypt, for whom have they long waited after the unstable transitional period under the military council's rule. So more than half the people who headed to the ballot boxes on June 16 and 17 voted for the candidate they think less harmful than the other is. Around 12 million voted for Lt-Gen. Ahmed Shafiq in the run-off while he got less than six million in the first round. This suggests that more than half of those who voted did so in repudiation of Morsi, who represents the Islamist project. They seek to ensure the civil identity of the state even though it would mean restoring one of the members of the toppled regime. On the other hand, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi received around 13 million votes as opposed to 6.5 million in the first round. Many members of the revolutionary front that could not accept the idea of having a president that might erase their struggle to revolutionise rule in Egypt voted for him. Some of them also felt sympathy for the Muslim Brotherhood after the court verdict to dissolve parliament in which they had obtained a majority. In other word, around half of the people who participated in the election run-off were not fully convinced by their candidates. They just hoped to get a president capable of getting the country out of its chronic crisis and preserving the new born democratic process with turning the country into either a military or religious dictatorship. Thus it is unacceptable for the incoming president to claim that he speaks on behalf of the majority or to ignore opinions of the opposition. All parties, whether they lost the presidential election in the first or second round, should co-operate with the coming president and wish him luck and success in ruling the country, because if he fails we will all be harmed. This co-operation should embrace strong opposition parties, via which the honest citizens who seek the good of this country could courageously explain their opposition to a questionable decision taken by the new president or any of his officials. However, this criticism should be positive and constructive in the interests of the nation rather than merely opposing the president. What is more important here for the new president to know is that Egyptians, whose number exceeded 25 million, lined up for hours under the hot June sun to build democratic rule in Egypt. Participating in this democratic process, the Egyptians should have felt real joy at having one of the goals of their revolution realised. However, having the run-off limited to the same old powers of the former regime and the Muslim Brotherhood has brought many members of the public real concern over the future of the country under either rule. Now, they feel true depression at seeing such political competition turn into hateful conflict in which each party accuses the other of fraud and opportunism.
