Political uncertainty is the order of the day in Egypt. There is much confusion and a lack of coherence. Yet there is a strong feeling that the political future of the country is in the making and that the new president will determine the course of the country's history. Likewise, a number of Arab countries have embarked on presidential and parliamentary elections. Algeria today will undergo a general election in which the moderate Islamists are bound to score admirably. Syria's election, in sharp contrast, is a sham. Tunisia's elections resulted in a landslide victory for the Islamists, albeit of the moderate strand. The Libyans, too, have started the registration process for their upcoming elections. It is markedly difficult to conduct a free and fair election in Libya since the country is embroiled in tribal violence. But Arabs need to look beyond the Arab world in seeking answers for the pressing questions multi- party pluralism and Democracy pose. There is the example of Europe. Several European countries voted in general elections this week. The French presidential election in which François Hollande won a convincing victory over the incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy period of "cohabitation" between a centre-right government and a centre-left president. Perhaps, the French model would suit Egypt? However, it is important to stress here that the left-right dichotomy that characterises many European countries does not necessarily work in the Arab world. In Arab countries that main political contention is between the Islamist forces, moderate and militant, and the liberal and secularist forces. Left and right are meaningless in such a context. In Egypt, as in many Arab Spring nations, there is the question of whether political figures associated with the former regime of ex-president Hosni Mubarak are to be excluded from the presidential race. Also a number of Islamist presidential hopefuls were excluded on myriad grounds. A new panache in Egypt's presidential poll is in vogue. Social networking and the media have focussed on the various presidential hopefuls with debates and videos of their presidential campaigns galore. In Egypt, most of the electorate is acutely conscious that they are about to witness but the first scene of a play on many acts. From now on, Egypt will experience many free and fair democratic elections and Egyptian presidents, hopefully never again of a military background, will come to power by force of arms. A democratically elected president will by definition be more sympathetic to the civilians' cause. Technocrats who best understand their respective trades and professions will run the country. The army will be confined to their barracks and not be tempted to interfere in the political affairs of the country ever again. The Islamists, too, will be obliged to work more closely with other political parties and ideological strands that do not necessarily see eye to eye with them. In the final analysis, if the Egyptian electorate is unhappy with the performance of the next president then they will oust him from office by democratic means after his term ends in four years. Egypt has come a long way since the days of dictatorship and one-man political shows. The decision- making process is itself being democratised and that can only be for the ultimate progress of the country.
