The presidential run-off is imminent and the two candidates, Air Marshal Ahmed Shafiq and the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi, are busy trading accusations, to scare the public away, rather than convincing them of the goodness of either of them. The two candidates seem unable to convince the voters, especially those who voted for the revolutionary candidates in the first round of the elections, who think neither of them is able to achieve the goals of the revolution. Shafiq, a prime minister under Mubarak, is a military man. He has been warning the public that, if the Muslim Brotherhood candidate gets elected, the capital of Egypt will be Jerusalem, in a clear reference to the Brotherhood's ties with the Hamas movement in Gaza and their common vision for liberating Palestine. He implies that, if Morsi comes to power, he will drag Egypt into another war with Israel. Meanwhile, Morsi says that Shafiq wants to revive Mubarak's regime if he gets elected and that he will get his revenge on the Islamists who have a parliamentary majority and erase the revolution completely. Although apparently depressed by the failure of any of the revolutionary candidates to reach the run-off, the majority of people would like at least one of the two candidates to reassure them that they want to protect the revolution and develop the country, rather than driving Egypt into a vicious circle of retaliation for the sins of the past. The most worrying thing is that many citizens are withdrawing from the political process, announcing their intention of boycotting the run-off, because neither candidate seems acceptable.
