Which should come first: the constitution or the elections? Doaa El-Bey continues to monitor Egypt's chicken-or-the-egg debate. The controversy over the priorities of the roadmap in the transitional period is heating up. Many people are calling for issuing the constitution first before holding parliamentary or presidential elections. Another group staunchly opposes the constitution-first option because it contradicts with the results of the 19 March referendum in which the public voted for holding parliamentary elections before the passage of a new constitution. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for September and presidential elections around two months later. The editorial of the official daily Al-Ahram said the controversy should be put in its proper proportions. That is, it should not top other pressing political priorities. The Higher Council of the Armed Forces, the ruling military council, the editorial explained, drew up a roadmap for the transitional period in cooperation with political and social powers. That roadmap comprised a series of procedures that ended up with the referendum and constitutional announcement. And it goes without saying that the military council should abide by these procedures. However, the edit added, if some viewpoints see a necessity in changing the map, making the constitution first, they should seek consensus which should only be reached after serious dialogue among all influential political powers. "All powers whether those who call for constitution first and those who call for elections first should raise the slogan: 'Egypt first'," the edit said. The millions of Egyptian who took part in the revolution are now waiting impatiently for the end of the transitional period, the return of stability and the establishment of a democratic and civil state. They will not accept that their dreams be dashed because of political differences, the edit concluded. Mohamed Amin wrote that the present political quizzes have not ended. One does not know whether there is a change in the roadmap towards the transitional period, what will come first, the constitution or the parliamentary elections, or who is the most formidable presidential candidate. Amin said it seemed as though the slogan of the present is "nobody understands anything", because we read the news, then the opposite of what we read, everyday, and sometimes in the same newspaper. In addition, newspapers have failed to agree even on straightforward matters like the thanaweya amma, or high school exams. Thus, nobody understands anything, neither the revolutionary youth nor the elite. Even the cabinet cannot make decisions. That's why there are lots of questions and fears, Amin said in the daily Al-Wafd, the mouthpiece of the opposition Wafd Party. Suleiman Gouda wrote that before the revolution, differences between any two groups were regarded in most cases as a differences between the patriotic members of the ruling party and the traitors who belong to another political trend. However, the present major difference between those who call for the constitution first and those who call for the parliamentary elections first cannot be regarded as a difference between patriotic people and traitors but between two patriotic groups. However, Gouda added in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm that if the difference has become that great, the only way out is another referendum. He ruled out that the constitution first differed with the results of the 19 March referendum because all constitutional experts including the renowned Ibrahim Darwish believe that we should start by the constitution followed by the elections. "Holding another referendum should not be regarded as contradicting the majority who said 'yes' in the 19 March referendum," Gouda wrote. He supported his argument by the fact that Switzerland conducts a referendum nearly every three months whenever there is controversy or differences on any issue. Gouda added that, "differences over the issue of the constitution first would put the army and the ruling military council in an embarrassing situation and that should not happen." Mohamed Boghdadi looked at the general situation in Egypt after the revolution. He wrote that the 25 January Revolution was probably the first time Egyptians revolt against corruption without having a leader, and losing their lives for their rights. In spite of the blood shed and the fall of all the heads of the previous regime, the positive results of the revolution are not reflected in improving the life of citizens. The economy, Boghdadi elaborated, is deteriorating, hooliganism is everywhere, police are not concerned about returning to the streets, the government is perplexed and the people are in a state of static dialogue. "If we look at the present situation, we find that we managed to topple the heads of the previous regime. But the infrastructure of corruption is still present and active among us," Boghdadi wrote in the weekly newspaper Rose El-Youssef. "We are still being chased by the corruption of times, places and hearts," Boghdadi stated. "Thus, unless we make drastic changes in everything, we will not feel there was a revolution. If we do not make these changes, we will only have substituted Mubarak and his men for their replicas. In that case, the only change would be in the dates in the calendar." Protesters from the neighbourhoods of Dar Al-Salam and Al-Nahda who demand apartments from the government are still living in tents in front of Maspero, the state TV building. They insist they will not leave Maspero until officials respond to their demands. Ragaa El-Nimr showed an understanding of their plight although she said she was against sectarian protests and the disruption that such protests cause. In spite of the disruption of the demonstrators, El-Nimr wrote, one cannot blame them as much as blame the government which has left them living in poor conditions and deprived them of their basic right of shelter -- and a toilet. "How is the government going to deal with the Maspero protesters? Is it going to leave them until they get bored and leave, or deal with their case with its usual slow pace?" Al-Nimr wondered in the official daily Al-Akhbar. However, El-Nimr did not expect them to leave Maspero because they are used to living in tents; living in Maspero is better for them than living where they are now and because they have the right to get apartments from the government. Thus, she concluded, the government should find apartments for those who have the right to have apartments and deal with the rest in quick and decisive fashion.
