CAIRO: “I voted for Hamdeen Sabahi,” said the taxi driver. Sweat breaks noticeably on his forehead as he refuses to turn on his air conditioner. “It's a rented car and I don't want to turn it on,” he says. The conversation started when he asked me why are people still in Tahrir. I told him they are unhappy with the current situation and mad about the elections and the acquittal of the former regime's officials. He shook his head in approval and said “the country's state is not satisfying anyone.” “I voted for Sabahi because he did not change his colors, he was the same man all the time.” Sabahi, who came in third in the first round of voting, was endorsed the most by public figures and liberals and leftists alike. Sabahi, a Nasserist and a loyal leftist, was the hope for many who distrusted other candidates. A dark horse who many thought would not be able to compete with others who were better financed, shattered that illusion and came in third place in the first round of the presidential elections. If the al-Azl law, or political isolation, had been implemented, he could have been a finalist now and competing against Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate and most probably win the election. Finalist Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak's last prime minister and disciple, is not shy about his connections with the jailed dictator, repeating that he sees him as a “role model,” winning the sympathy of the old regime's affiliates and those who the revolution and change have scared them out of reason. Shafiq, a military man, reigned over the ministry of civil aviation for years, harshly oppressing strikes and worker's rights, is seen as a tough man who will bring back order to the country. “Shafiq vs. Morsi is a losing game miss,” the man said. “I don't know what I will do when I go vote again, I can't stand the Brotherhood and Shafiq as president is the death of the revolution,” his voice hinting at despair. After heavy moments of silence he said, as we stopped at a traffic light by the Qasr al-Aini hospital, in an ominous tone “people are scared of a civil war, like Syria you know, but in any case, I think I will stay home that day.” A highly unlikely scenario for Egypt, yet people are wary for what the next elections might bring, a sure disappointment for millions and a shot at power for millions others.
