Doaa El-Bey assesses the final, fateful round of Egypt's presidential elections Newspapers followed the controversy over the formation of the constituent assembly that will draw up the constitution and developments in the final week before the presidential runoffs. Al-Youm Al-Sabei website on Tuesday wrote 'Parliament sends constituent assembly law to military council for ratification'. Al-Masry Al-Youm on Monday had 'New conflict between the "religious" and the "civil" in forming constituent committee' and Al-Ahram noted 'Parliament discusses law organising constituent committee and partisan meetings held to select members'. The start of the final senior high school exams or thanaweya amma was an important event in the press this week. Al-Akhbar on Sunday had 'Thanaweya amma exams start with no complaints�ê� results on 16 and 17 July' and Al-Wafd on Monday wrote 'Cheating using bluetooth in thanaweya amma exams'. Nasser Fayyad expressed concern that the new president would assume power before knowing his authorities according to a constitution. The situation leaves the constitution in the grip of the president as well. Fayyad noted that all related vital issues have not been outlined, namely how many vice presidents the president will have, how they will be selected and how the new governors will be selected, by appointment or election. He suggested holding a referendum so that the people can have a say on all these issues. While Fayyad said he was worried that the new president could interfere in the process of drafting the constitution, he suggested that both candidates should pledge not to interfere in the drafting process and limit their role to facilitating the job of the constituent committee and removing any obstacles facing it. "I had wished that the constitution would have been ready by January, soon after the parliament held its first sessions. But differences between political powers slowed down the process and led us to have a president without a constitution," Fayyad wrote in Al-Wafd, the mouthpiece of the opposition Wafd Party. He concluded by calling on the people to vote for the candidate they want and to refrain from boycotting the elections. Amr El-Shobki pointed to the danger of what is being said among protesters at present: "the legitimacy of the street comes prior to the legitimacy of the ballot box and the constitution." El-Shobki believes that what is being said needs reconsideration, not because the revolution is less important than the ballot box and constitution, but because it is not an end in its own right but a means to build other legitimacies for the people. He acknowledged that the presidential election was not exemplary because there were violations and political money was used to sway the will of the voters. "The ballot box will bring Shafik or Mursi and they are both unacceptable to many people. But the real test would be in the ability of the people to respect the results of the election and the legitimacy of the ballot boxes whoever the winner is," El-Shobki wrote in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm. Vehemence for authority, he warned at the conclusion of his regular column, should not trample over any positive steps taken by the people. In describing the present situation, Ezzat El-Kamhawi wrote that we are waiting with sadness the outcome of the run-off between the old regime and the Muslim Brotherhood. We are also awaiting two important verdicts -- the first could oust Ahmed Shafik from the presidential race and the second could expel the MB from parliament. El-Kamhawi wondered in the official daily Al-Akhbar whether this is a proper country or a circus. He did not care for the answer, focussing instead on the companionship between the regime and the MB which he described as Siamese twins who could either live together or die together or are like the two faces of one coin. He said the friendship had taken us to a deadlock. "But we have to acknowledge the skill of the coach who wanted to punish Egyptians for their revolution by placing them in the same formula: either us or the MB. "We launched the revolution for the sake of dignity, freedom and social justice. Eighteen months later, it has been transformed into a revolution of distrust. People have doubts about all parties. Secularists distrust the MB, the MB suspect the Salafis and the ruling military council reciprocates doubt with all parties," El-Kamhawi wrote. Suspicion surrounds both presidential candidates as well. Shafik, El-Kamhawi explained, entered the race carrying tonnes of accusations about his involvement with the old regime before and after the revolution while Mursi and his group are accused of cooperating with the regime. And in that ambiance, El-Kamhawi concluded, the people are required to select one of the accused as their president. Abdel-Rahman Youssef looked at the future of the revolution in the light of the presidential elections. Youssef wrote that young activists are worried because the new president does not represent their revolution. Shafik is an enemy to the revolution and Mursi does not represent it. The past months of the transitional period showed that neither group will meet the aspirations of the revolution. However, Youssef noted that youth would be mistaken if they think that the election of the president is the end of the conflict. The presidential election regardless of its results is just one round in a long conflict to change Egypt. Thus, Youssef saw no problem if either candidate wins. If Shafik wins, he explained, he will be a weak president in a state with worn out institutions. Youths will make use of his weakness by making gains on the ground and getting involved in political life. By the time Shafik leaves office, they would be standing on terra firma. If Mursi wins, Youssef elaborated, he must cooperate with all the old and new political trends or he and his group will fail. "The dichotomy of 'army and MB' should come to an end. Their monopoly of power should be part of history via creating a third option which is available for revolutionary youths regardless of who will sit in the presidential palace," Youssef wrote in the independent daily Al-Youm Al-Sabei.
