CAIRO: “The answer is Tunis, it's still Tunis. Congrats to them, but the envy inside me is making me wonder if we're ever going to join them on their justice and equality spree? I want my #jan25 back. I want to walk around the Egyptian streets and feel like kissing the ground all over again.” A thought and statement most Egyptians were keeping in mind while they had their eyes on the inspirational elections that were a result of an uplifting revolution, one that was sparked by the death of BouAzizi after an era attributed to humiliation and ill-practice of social justice. A comparison was brought up between our revolution and Tunis's revolution lately, conveying that Tunis was leading the right track in their quest for a state with the 3 divine words for any revolutionary: Bread, Freedom, Social Justice. They were calling for a state with equality and freedom of speech/opinion/choice as the basis of a new constitution and a country's new age. 9 months exactly after our revolution, was it still possible to catch up with Tunisia's evolving pace? Could we get the Egyptians back as “one hand” again after current events and circumstances have nearly succeeded in separating people? Was it possible for our political parties and especially the Islamic/religious ones to show moderate views such as Tunisia's Al-Nahda party (the party won around 40 percent of the vote)? Of course, most in the West were shocked over reports of an Islamist group winning seats, ignoring the overwhelming evolution that the Tunisians were finally giving their voices after the control of a dictatorship. @h_altabtabai argued such a point by tweeting: “The West once supported these Arab tyrants and now they claim they will help the people understand the concept of democracy, they just won't leave them alone.” After, @daphnemccurdy, a Senior Research Associate at Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), reported that the elections' voter turnout was 70%-80% with people thinking it was fair and free, Arabs were the most proud people on Earth. However, while #Tunis was celebrating their first stop toward democracy, #Egypt was still wondering what the elections in November would lead to after #SCAF‘s current military “ownership” of the country, as people would like to refer. Most importantly, #EgyAbroad were the ones feeling despondent after pictures of Tunisians abroad voting were revolving online. They still felt that they were treated as second-class citizens who weren't given their legitimate right to change the history of their country forever after an influential revolution that evoked patriotism in every Egyptian's heart. #Egyabroad were hoping for a miracle until the news spread over Twitter after @ahmadragheb, the @right_2_vote campaign's lawyer, tweeted that they had won the lawsuit issued by Hisham Mubarak Law Center and that the administrative court had granted #EgyAbroad the right to vote at Egyptian embassies and consulates all over the world with their National IDs. Although the government can appeal the court order, some people announced that it was unlikely to happen. Many argued that the government had been trying their best to gain the people's acceptance again after they were proven to be a “joke” throughout the last couple of months. Virtual ululations broke into the Twittersphere, and tweets like @nermine79‘s: “I feel like our revolution was hijacked, how are Tunisian expats voting, but #egyabroad being denied their #right2vote … so angry” changed into “Soooo… I really count now ?? #EgyAbroad.” It was definitely the first time Egyptians online and on the streets were reforming the “one hand” cliché all over again. However, many people questioned if the #SCAF would come up with an outrageous excuse like “We don't have enough money/We don't have enough judges to monitor the elections.” Some wondered if the elections will be postponed, especially after the Minister of Interior ordered sending delegations from the country's civil state organizations to issue national IDs for Egyptians living in the US, Canada and Europe. However, for a professional's voice, @ymzada (Youssef Zada, Egypt's Consul General in New York), reality slapped the Twitter world in the face when he tweeted that the court order to allow #EgyAbroad to vote was non-compulsory for the government; and actually further action may be required to enforce the right to vote as it was the #SCAF‘s call and not the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. @ElAzul also chose to argue a similar point by stating: “I refuse to celebrate about egyptian abroad voting until I know what safe guards against voter fraud will be in place & if you think they won't use every trick to make it appear that they're allowing #EgyAbroad voting while actually screwing us over: ha2aw (word of mockery). 85 million Egyptians regained hope today after the miraculous court order, 4 million of them living in 139 foreign countries started to believe that their votes that had been buried will finally count for the first time in 30 years. 9 months after the revolution, will such voices be allowed to finally shape New Egypt's future? #MaikelNabil: The Silence of the Revolutionaries #MaikelNabil, Egypt's long forgotten political prisoner, has been transferred to Abasseya's Psychiatric Hospital. A statement that was refuted several times before by the Ministry of Health's spokesperson, who claimed that #MaikelNabil was not in the hospital. This was raged upon especially after Basma AbdelAzeez's, Director of Information at the hospital, issued a statement that #MaikelNabil was indeed in the psychiatric hospital. She cited her fury over Maikel's transfer to the hospital, explaining that such a decision contributes to using psychiatric hospitals as a “political tool.” After her statement was published nearly everywhere, she was ordered for an administrative investigation by the Ministry of Health. The Doctors' Syndicate issued a communiqué announcing their support with her while questioning the Ministry of Health's intention and if the revolution affected it after all. With #MaikelNabil approaching his 70th day of his courageous hunger strike on November 1, he accounts as one of the obliterated revolutionaries in Egypt post #jan25. News of prominent Alaa Abdel Fattah (@alaa) and Bahaa Saber being summoned into military prosecution for “inciting violence and destroying property” were on the top of the news on the web, yet #MaikelNabil‘s case was still hidden, leaving people to wonder when will Egyptians finally speak up about his case with a fearless manner. Only in the resurrection of an old tyrant's era are the sane viewed as insane. Only in the resurrection of an old dictatorship will the weapon of secrecy be used. Let's never be led to the slaughter like sheep, let's use the weapon of openness. ** Menna Alaa can be found on twitter: @TheMiinz BM
