To vote or not to vote was the million pound question. Fatemah Farag covers the campaign's final hours In its final week of pre-presidential elections frenzy, the press vacillated between over-the-top enthusiasm, claiming the event to be the "dawn of a new Egypt" the hallmark of which is a democratic process, and downright cynicism (describing the elections as little more than a charade). The enthusiasts were headed by the national press that not only hailed the process but also called on the people of Egypt in article after article to play their part and take election day seriously. "I do not exaggerate when I say that 7 September will become a landmark date in the life of the Egyptian people," said Ismail Montasser in October magazine. "I do not exaggerate when I say we will all win and claim victory on that day. And I do not think I am overstating when I say that 8 September will be the beginning of a new era, a new beginning and a new birth... And I do not exaggerate when I say that Egypt as we know it will not be the same." Repetitive yes -- but to the point. Equally candid was Mokhtar Nouh in Sawt Al-Umma on 5 September in which he told readers that in spite of the "media frenzy, the general feeling confirms that [the frenzy] is nothing but a nice play with no connection to the transfer of power or the people's will." Nouh goes on to lament that we have lived through "hundreds of years in which Egypt's leaders have never left power out of their own free will or that of the people but have only left power because of the death of the connection between their brains and hearts." True as that may be, Mohamed Barakat in Al-Akhbar argued that we should "search for all the ways needed to protect stability and stand against all attempts at sensationalisation. We must abort all attempts that aim at questioning this democratic experiment that we are living today." Presidential candidates' programmes and promises were a focus of attention again this week and in the same issue of Sawt Al-Umma Ibrahim Eissa wondered when presidential candidate Hosni Mubarak would say something new. Concerning the legitimacy of the national ruling party candidate's promises, Eissa recounted, "it was he [Mubarak] who told us that he would not stay in power for more than two terms but he did not abide [by his promise]. Now he wants to rule us for 30 years. And he's the one who promised that he would protect those with limited incomes but today millions in Egypt live below the poverty line. And he is the one who promised us clean hands and honest rule yet today corruption has become a method of rule and the protection of corrupters a slogan of the Mubarak regime." In "Will the sun rise anew?" Mustafa Bakri in Al-Osbou also highlights the issue of corruption as the main challenge that faces any newly elected president. "Corruption in Egypt has become an inter-connected spiders' web with roots deep in institutions and society," he reminded readers. Also Raouf Tawfiq in Al-Ahali on 31 August highlighted the battle against corruption as the number one challenge facing both presidential incumbents and society. "The first priority is to announce war against corruption; to attack its roots and contain its tails that have extended everywhere." But while the hot issues -- corruption, unemployment and human rights being a few -- are easy to pinpoint, the question remains regarding what all of this means to the man on the street. In Al-Ghad on 31 August Amir Salem acquiesces. "I fear that this state of separation between the political elite from the masses on the one hand, and the people from political awareness on the other hand, will continue." And Diaa Rashwan in Al-Masri Al-Youm on 5 September asked the awkward question that is ultimately on everyone's mind: what if the majority of the Egyptian people simply do not vote? The answer, according to Rashwan, is that "this will prove that the policies of the past quarter of a century is the main reason behind the unwillingness of Egyptians to participate and vote and in this case the ruling party must have the courage to announce this publicly. And the president that has won the elections with the votes of a minority must tender his resignation and call for new presidential elections within six months during which he fixes what time and his party have spoilt."
