Dina Ezzat examines the balance sheet "No more fear; no more repression," was how activist and journalist Nawara Negm greeted the 11 February announcement by Hosni Mubarak's new vice president and years-long General Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman that Egypt's president for three decades was stepping down. That was almost 12 months ago. Since then she has been investigated for allegedly inciting violence during the sit-ins that in recent months signaled the frustration many have felt at the failure to fulfil their hopes for post-Mubarak Egypt. Negm's treatment is far from unique, and certainly not the worst meted out to activists. During the past few months demonstrators have been humiliated, injured and killed by anti-riot units of the police and the army. Such is their despair that some are now suggesting the revolution be resumed to oust the regime which resists despite the end of the rule of its figurehead. "When we heard that there was a revolution we were not sure really what was going on and then a few days later we understood that the demonstrators wanted to remove Mubarak and his son Gamal," recalled Salem, a Cairo taxi driver stuck on the 6 October flyover. Salem, who spends 10 hours a day behind the wheel of his taxi to make ends meet, was carefully supportive of the "demonstrators". He never went to Tahrir Square or any other site of demonstrations. "I cannot afford any risks. I cannot afford to be arrested. I have a large family to feed," he said as the traffic jam persisted, adding that the tailback "is worse than anything that could have happened during the days of Mubarak." At the time Salem was hopeful -- "without saying it to anyone" -- that "Mubarak would go and that [Ahmed] Nazif [Mubarak's prime minister from 2004 to the early days of the revolution] would go'. What Salem wanted was something along the line of the demands echoed in Tahrir Square -- "Bread, liberty and social justice". "I wanted the situation to get better. I wanted the 10 hours of work to be worthwhile and I was hopeful that we would see better days," Salem said as he lit another cigarette. "But nothing has happened. What have we gained of this revolution?" That the revolution has brought nothing but the trial of the ousted president and some of his associates, including Gamal and his elder businessman brother Alaa, is a common complaint. For Salem the whole trial is "pointless". "It does not bring anything. What are we trying to prove? That Mubarak was corrupt? You don't need a trial for that." The 64-year-old is far from convinced that the trial of Mubarak will reveal anything about who ordered the killing of the demonstrators during the 18-day revolution. "It is obvious," he says, that it was either Mubarak himself or his senior aides. It is equally obvious for Salem that Mubarak will not pay the price for that. Happy to have taken all the privileges of his office Mubarak will not be held responsible for what happened during his time as Egypt's autocratic ruler. "It brought me nothing, the revolution. Actually it has made things worse for me because most commodities are now more expensive, road safety has deteriorated and the traffic is a nightmare due to the absence of the traffic police." Salem's concerns, says political scientist Hassan Abu Taleb, are perfectly legitimate. The 25 January Revolution, which human rights activists had hoped would end the apparatus of fear that the Ministry of Interior had imposed in order to protect an ailing regime, has taken a serious toll at the level of security on the streets after police forces abandoned their duties on 28 January, never to fully resume their responsibilities. But for Abu Taleb poor security and a dismal economy are essentially the outcome of confused management of the transitional phase. Abu Taleb is particularly unimpressed with the sequence of constitutional amendments and declarations that have preceded what he says is a hesitant, and lopsided, roadmap for rebuilding the legislative and executive powers. He is also disturbed by the lack of transparency of the legal process under which Mubarak and his henchmen are being tried. Of most concern for Abu Taleb, though, is the unilateral way in which the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has been ruling the country since 11 February, leading to a widening chasm between SCAF and the demonstrators who, he also believes, are insensitive to the pressures faced by SCAF as they attempt to control a system all but wrecked by corruption. Yet Abu Taleb is convinced that the gains of the 25 January Revolution were worth the sacrifices made by the demonstrators and the hardships many Egyptians now face. One clear gain, he argues, is the end of an authoritarian regime that based its rule on a brutal security system, the dominance of a single party and the marginalisation of all opposition. "Today," according to Abu Taleb, "Egypt has bypassed authoritarianism and it is standing at the doorstep of a new phase of democratic rule that will take time to shape up but will eventually emerge." "Gone is the myth of the lame Egyptian population who would put up with all forms of repression." Later this year Egyptians will go to the ballot box to elect a president from a long list of serious contenders lobbying hard to win their votes. "This is the first time ever that voters can go to polling stations and come back without knowing in advance who would win the elections. It is the first time that we see effective presidential campaigns and a process of popularity rating," says Abu Taleb. For Hamdi Hassan and Manal Abul-Hassan, MPs from the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, it is the contrast between the state's management of the 2010 and 2011 parliamentary elections that best sums up the gains of the revolution. In December 2010, just a few weeks before demonstrations began, the ruling National Democratic Party, chaired by Mubarak, and in cooperation with the government of Nazif and the Ministry of Interior, presided over flagrantly rigged elections. Hassan and Abul-Hassan, standing as independents rather than representatives of the then outlawed Brotherhood, were denied any chance of winning a parliamentary seat. This year elections proceeded with far greater transparency, despite criticism of how the campaigns of religion-based political parties violated the constitutional declaration. The simple fact that the Freedom and Justice Party could win 45 per cent of People's Assembly seats when, little over a year before, the Brotherhood's parliamentary presence had been decimated as a result of vote rigging, is a clear indication of just how much things have changed. "Before we used to run in elections knowing that the regime would not tolerate any opposition, from the Brotherhood or any one else," says Abul-Hassan. For members of the Freedom and Justice Party their majority in parliament is a definite plus -- despite the challenges that Hassan says it brings along now "the public will no longer accept excuses for a hesitant performance that fails to address pressing socio-economic concerns". In liberal, feminist and Coptic quarters the overwhelming majority now enjoyed by Islamic forces in the People's Assembly is hardly a cause for jubilation. "It is a plus in the sense that it reflects a true democratic process but it certainly brings some question marks about the future, although I remain hopeful that the Freedom and Justice Party will stick to the reassuring statements they have made about respecting the rights of all Egyptian citizens," says Youssef Sidhom, the editor of Watani, a newspaper dedicated to Coptic matters. Sidhom is hopeful that the newly elected parliament, despite a tiny Coptic presence, will address the social concerns of Copts who were at the forefront of the revolution and whose grievances over forms of discrimination are still to be addressed. "Copts have serious concerns, especially in relation to the right to build and repair churches, that were not addressed under Mubarak and have been left un-attended by subsequent governments," he says. Feminist activist Monza Hassan makes a similar argument for women's rights. For her the strong presence of women during the revolution and subsequent demonstrations, despite their harassment by security forces and denunciation for their participation from conservatives, including some quarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, shows women "will live up to any challenges put by the Islamists, the military or any other conservative force". Women might no longer enjoy the kind of state support that had allowed for changes in unfair marital status laws or endorsed the entry of a considerable number of women into parliament "but we are still better off now because the few women who are in parliament are there on merit of their political activism and not their association with the ruling party," she says. "They are capable of debating all kind of issues, not just those connected to marital status, from a political point of view." Novelist and journalist Hamdi Abdel-Rehim remains hopeful over the fate of freedom of expression, believing that "during a time of such change it will be very hard for anyone to try and roll back such freedom, whether under the name of religion or not." It would be political suicide, he argues, for Islamist forces to dedicate time and effort towards rolling back freedom of expression -- already compromised under the Mubarak regime -- at a time of pressing social and economic problems. Attempted intervention is possible, Abdel-Rehim accepts, but the "reaction would not be mild". Karama Party deputy leader Amin Iskandar is convinced that "a major political achievement is in the making -- it is not completely done but once it is the reign of democracy will prevail, bringing freedoms and equal citizenship to all."
