CAIRO: Almost 90 percent of Egyptians trust the military council to lead the transitional period, a poll revealed a day before clashes between protesters and army forces left 25 dead and over 311 injured. The poll, conducted by the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, measured Egyptian's opinions towards political participation and parties. It showed that 89.8 percent of 2,400 Egyptians surveyed said they trust the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to lead the transitional period after the January 25 Revolution. However, trust that the military council would hand over power to a civilian elected-authority dropped slightly from 99 to 94 percent compared to August's poll. The judiciary system ranked second with Egyptians' trust, with 77 percent saying they turst it, followed by the revolution's youth, who have the trust of 63.1 percent of the those surveyed. Almost 40 percent said they trust the police and 23.8 percent said they trust political parties came last with only 23.8percent. "The poll tried to display a profile regarding the attitudes of the public towards the major events in the country before the elections," Gamal Abdel Gawad, supervisor of polls at the Ahram Center, told Daily News Egypt. The participants, he said, were a representative sample from all Egyptian governorates except for the ones on the border. Another 90 percent believed SCAF will work on trying corrupt figures of the former regime. Only 43.8 percent said Egypt is now "somewhat ready" for democracy. With the parliamentary elections approaching, 44 percent agreed that the elections law is suitable for this period. Another 29.8 percent said it would be better to increase the quota for independent candidates and reduce that of the parties which contradicts with the demands of the political powers calling for the use of the proportional list. A program focusing on social justice in the coming elections appealed to 40.9 percent of those surveyed, as opposed to 27.7 percent who preferred a program focused on enhancing the Egyptian economy. The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party (FJP) was the most favored by participants, with 39 percent of those eligible to vote in the coming elections said they will vote for it. On the other hand, 20 percent said they will vote for Al-Wafd Party which recently scrapped an electoral alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood. Despite endless calls to lift the emergency law during elections, 64.8 percent said that it should be implemented to stop thuggery and unauthorized use of guns, while 35.2 percent said Egypt's laws are sufficient. Amr Moussa topped the list of presidential candidates with 44.8 percent announcing that they will vote in his favor, while 13.2 percent said they will vote for former prime minister Ahmed Shafik and only 3.5 percent of the participants said they will vote for Mohamed ElBaradei. Among the participants in the poll, 49.3 percent said economic issues are the most urgent, while security issues became more pressing than August's poll for 41.1 percent of those surveyed. The poll also showed that the economic situation is worse than it was before the January 25 Revolution. Of the participants, 70.6 percent said the worst possible scenario for Egypt is anarchy followed by an Islamist takeover. On the issue of trying the corrupt figures of the former regime, 61 percent believe Mubarak's trial should continue regardless of the consequences, while another 18 percent believe he should be pardoned in exchange of the stolen funds. Only, 4 percent said Mubarak should be released as "not guilty."
