Doaa El-Bey and Rasha Saad are on common ground as they describe the heightened state of elation and anxiety over Egypt's presidential elections Newspapers have been counting down the presidential elections for several weeks. Now that the moment of truth has arrived, writers this week focussed on how to choose the right candidate and what we want from the first post-revolution president. Al-Masry Al-Youm had on Monday 'Egypt enters phase of pre-election truce', and Al-Akhbar headlined 'Army deploys on streets to safeguard elections'. Al-Ahram on Sunday underlined the strict measures taken by the Presidential Elections Commission (PEC) to secure the elections, and Al-Wafd wrote 'Freedom and Justice MPs pressing to use mosques for political propaganda'. Sherif El-Abd described the presidential race as ferocious and unpredictable. Thus, it is impossible to guess the winner and it is difficult to have a result after the first round. El-Abd raised a few questions in his article in the official daily Al-Ahram on Sunday, namely whether the influence of the MB subsided, whether their weak performance in the parliament has had an impact on the presidential elections, if the chances of the liberals are increasing, and whether the televised debate ended in favour of one of the candidates. Finally El-Abd wondered whether the election would be held without bloody confrontations or charges of rigging from the losing party. Mohamed Ali Kheir questioned what would happen the day following the selection of the president. He asked whether the people would accept whoever the ballot boxes produce. That is the question, Kheir wrote, that many people are concerned with especially when members of certain groups threatened to take action if their candidate did not win the elections. "People flocked to take part in the parliamentary elections and accepted the results. Why are some threatening to protest against the results of the presidential elections if their candidate does not win?" Kheir asked in the official daily Al-Akhbar. He hailed the Salafist Nour Party which stated that although it supports Abul-Fotouh, it would welcome the results of the elections even if it produces Ahmed Shafik or Amr Moussa. Kheir criticised the decision to disclose the results of the expatriates' elections before the start of the first round of the local elections. He noted that it would affect local votes especially among those who have not decided on a certain candidate. While Kheir acknowledged that the candidate who wins abroad is not necessarily the one who would win inside Egypt because the factors that govern the voters decision are different, he expressed a strong belief that many would take their decision according to the result of the expatriate vote. Voters would think, he explained, that if a certain candidate wins on the external level then he is a suitable candidate. He concluded Egypt is entering a new era on Wednesday and Thursday, the two days allocated for the presidential elections. He seized the opportunity to remember and hail the victims of the revolution. A writer for the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm, who uses the pen name Newton, wondered whether the elections will be free and fair. In his definition of free elections, he wrote it is an election in which everything is free and transparent. He defined the fair elections as that which enjoys transparent procedures and is being held in a free ambiance. While Newton acknowledged that the elections will be free and fair, he expressed his fear that it could be forged. By forging, he meant that the will of the people would be tampered with one way or another or that they will be obstructed from going to the ballot boxes. He added mosques were playing a role in the elections in a clear violation of the law. Some mosque preachers, Newton explained, called for electing a certain candidate and others outlawed voting for other candidates. "The presidential election is the first step towards political maturity. But political maturity and popular awareness will not be achieved in this election. They need years and years of political, social, religious and economic efforts to be achieved," he wrote. Nasser Fayad jotted down his aspirations and hopes concerning the coming president. He started his article in Al-Wafd, the mouthpiece of the opposition Wafd Party by questioning what his first decision should be. It should be, Fayad wrote, sacking the present government, choosing a new prime minister and giving him complete authority to choose the ministers including those who would head important ministries. He also needs to take important decisions like selecting a vice-president, calling for governors to be elected and restructuring the administrative bodies of the state. He outlined further tasks and decision required of the president in the first month, the first six months and the first year. "The coming president has the chance to go down in history as the president who restored the prominent status that Egypt enjoyed throughout history," he wrote. Fayad summed up his article by asking God to help the president in his mission. Mohamed El-Zorqani wrote that we are used to describing various things like the former presidential speeches, for instance, as "historic". However, he emphasised that we are in a historic moment now. "Egypt has an appointment with history as people head to the ballot boxes to choose their president for the first time in thousands of years. Nobody will be allowed to steal or rig the people's will," El-Zorqani wrote in the official weekly Akhbar Al-Youm. Thirteen candidates, he added, belong to different trends, but they all love Egypt. Although it is difficult to decide on one of them, the most important thing is to go to the ballot box and cast one's vote. While the writer acknowledged the right of every Egyptian to choose his president freely, El-Zorqani emphasised that it is also his duty to respect the will of the people and support the elected president whether he elected him or not. "We should start the journey to build Egypt away from differences and conflicts."
