In the wake of Egypt's first free and fair elections following the 25 January Revolution, Jailan Halawi celebrates her new-found sense of citizenship To vote or not to vote -- that was the question for many after Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) announced that the parliamentary elections would take place as scheduled despite the ongoing demonstrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square and elsewhere in the country. My own uncertainty about whether or not to vote in the elections derived from a sense of depression, as well as political disappointment, and was shaped by my father's health condition and long stay in hospital. I was not sure what it was that triggered the feeling of disappointment I had surrounding the elections, aside from the personal consideration of my father's condition of course. There were the bureaucratic procedures followed by the hospital, despite its being one of the most reputable private ones, and there was the tortoise-like speed at which some of the consultants and nurses acted. There was also the lack of certain services that make even Egypt's best hospitals less good than their international counterparts. Despite the glorious 25 January Revolution and the hopes it holds for Egypt, having to deal with one of the most difficult legacies of the former regime -- Egypt's failing healthcare system -- brought a feeling that nothing had really changed since January, or, worse, that nothing would change as a result of the revolutionaries' sacrifices. As a resident of Heliopolis, Cairo, I was scheduled to vote on Monday 28 or Tuesday 29 November. It was not until Monday that I started to think about it. Everywhere I went that day, the elections seemed to be on everyone's lips. Even friends whom I had believed to be detached from politics and uninterested in it had suddenly turned out to be active and involved. Text messages spread among friends, colleagues and acquaintances, advising a certain list of candidates or urging each other to vote. While everyone had a preference for a certain political party or candidate, the prevalent sentiment was to make sure that the whole nation took to the polls. For the first time in Egypt's recent history, those political parties that could afford it advertised themselves on national television as well as on satellite channels. One could feel a real competition to win the voters over, unlike during previous elections when it felt as if the government could do without citizens' participation at all, as it had already decided on the winners and losers. Even at the hospital, the elections were being discussed by the doctors, nurses, administrative employees, patients and visitors. For the first time, Egyptians felt that their voices counted and that they could make a difference in shaping the future of their country. Voters freely discussed the ups and downs of the first round of the elections. There were those who criticised the fact that some candidates had continued their campaigns inside the polling stations themselves, and others who complained about the long lines in which they had had to wait, calling for an increase in the number of election committees. Others expressed their fears of women wearing all-concealing face veils, whose identities could not be verified, voting in polling stations supervised by men and therefore possibly skewing the results. Since certain parties looked as if they were about to score a major victory, some voters advised voting for the less popular parties, in order to avoid a monopoly like the one once practised by the former ruling National Democratic Party. As a result of all this, together with a significant improvement in my father's health, I felt the need to hurry to the polls and take part in this magnificent exercise in Egypt's recent history. But where was I supposed to go? I heard on the radio that by sending your national telephone number in a text message to 5151 you could get a reply giving the details of your polling station, the number of your committee, and your voting number. Alternatively, I was told, you could visit www.elections2011.eg.www.elections2011.eg.I chose the first option, and I was very impressed when I immediately got an electronic reply, saving me from having to carry out any further research. Eager with anticipation, I wondered how busy I would find the polling station, as previous experiences had not left encouraging memories. I found a parking spot right outside the station, which was secured by the police and the army who were extremely polite and obliging. Inside, there was only a handful of voters, so I was able to cast my vote in peace. My thumb was inked, and I left. The whole thing took fewer than five minutes, parking included. It was fantastic, splendid, and fascinating, to say the least. As a journalist, I have been involved with elections and referendums over recent years, all of them until today proving useless or rigged. I remember how, as a new graduate full of enthusiasm at practicing journalism, I was assigned along with colleagues to cover one of the former president's referendums. We not only were able to vote at the wrong polling station without producing any identification, but we were also able to cast our votes more than five times in different stations using different names. I remember how we were once kicked out of a polling station when the supervisors realised we were journalists. I also remember how empty the polling stations were, as well as the sight of buses carrying workers who had been forced to vote for their employers. I can still remember the desperate looks on these voters' faces. Today, all such looks have gone, and the desperate faces have been rejuvenated. It was as if Egyptians had suddenly awakened from a long sleep and become aware of a long-dormant and suppressed sense of citizenship -- myself included. "I voted for a better future for my children and for the well-being of our country, as well as for the jobless, the desperate young people who cannot find work, and for the sake of all the poor citizens who deserve a chance at a better life. What ordinary people like me care about is that there should be justice, work, and the opportunity to live a decent life. I feel proud at being able to vote. For the first time, I feel that I am a citizen of this country who has something to say about how it should be run," commented 54-year-old street vendor Umm Abdallah. The elections are very much worth taking pride in. Today, I also feel proud of my citizenship as an Egyptian, and I feel proud of all those who sacrificed their lives so that Egypt could once again hold its head up high with dignity. We should salute those who protested in Tahrir Square and those who gave their lives for us to savour the true meaning of freedom.
