By Salama A Salama Some presidential candidates have started their campaign, a bit too early if you ask me. We're still debating whether we should have elections first or the constitution. We're still discussing the common ground on which various political groups and youth coalitions should stand. And we haven't yet reached a decision on the fate of the former president and his top aides. One would think that any prospective president would like to see the future course of his presidency plotted out differently from the one that led to the catastrophic ending of Mubarak, his family and his regime. The presidency is still viewed with scepticism. No one wants to see one man gathering all the reins of power in his hand and doing what he wants, not what his people want. Amr Moussa was the first to launch his campaign, moving forward with a buzz that may prove hard to maintain once the run-up gets heated. Favouring America's TV savvy ways, Moussa trotted around Alexandria streets, kissing babies and drawing crowds of curious passersby. The main challenge for a serious candidate is to earn the voters' support for specific plans, not just vague promises of a better future. The early start of the campaign was not particularly instructive, as it tempted critics to dig into the candidate's past and try to discredit them, mostly by using references to past relations with the ousted regime. Moussa's critics tried to discredit him by referring to gas sales to Israel, sales that were made during a time of multi-track peace talks, when there was still hope that Israel may be persuaded to give the Palestinians their rights. It is a criticism that I find to be quite unfair. A poll on prospective presidents conducted by the Higher Council of the Armed Forces was as unnecessary as it was impartial. This poll found Mohamed El-Baradei to be in the lead, followed by Mohamed Selim El-Awwa. Other polls found Amr Moussa to be in the lead followed by El-Baradei. But none of these polls, including those conducted by Der Spiegel and The Los Angeles Times, involved rigorous polling methods. Some claim that the voting power of the Muslim Brotherhood matches the result of the referendum on constitutional changes. This claim is difficult to uphold, and the Islamic vote in the presidency is likely to be divided among multiple candidates, including Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh and El-Awwa. Among many independent voices, regular folks as well as writers and politicians, many admit that neither of the candidates named so far meets their expectations. Some say they were hoping for a young candidate to come along. According to one blogger, "Egypt needs a generation of youth who understand the science and technology of the age. Erdogan is a fine example. He studied economy and worked in commerce at 20, became a prime minister at 45 and is now 56. We do not want 70-year-old candidates, but most candidates in Egypt are close to that age." We do not want a candidate to start experimenting with administration and promising an Islamic revival. We do not want more experiments. We have tried socialism, open-door policies, and what have you, and ended up with nothing but failure. The Turkish experiment is good enough for us, and it can, with a few alterations, be implemented in Egypt. Those who call for an Islamist revival need to tell us a place in which it has worked. In Afghanistan, the Taliban ended up being a major drug dealer. So are you talking Hamas's Gaza, Gaddafi's Libya, or Iran? The only two successful models one sees around are Turkey and Malaysia. Neither propagates an Islamic revival and both believe in the separation of mosque and state.
