Ahmed Ali, a bus driver, maybe a bit too hopeful as he headed to the ballot boxes nearly two weeks ago, to vote for the presidential candidate he thought would be suitable at this critical stage. Like many other people, he hoped for a president who would be able to end the confusion and chaos that has spread throughout the country like wildfire since Hosni Mubarak's ousting, immediately creating a better post-revolution Egypt. "We want stability, social justice, better healthcare, higher wages and welfare. We want to be a normal State, like one of the advanced countries," said Ali. “I'm a bus driver and I suffer every day queueing for hours at the petrol stations to get my tank filled; sometimes I have to leave empty-handed. We want a rapid and radical solution to the fuel problem," he told The Egyptian Gazette. The troubled road to electing a president may not necessarily have a happy ending, experts say. Fatma Mahmoud, a housewife, wants from the new President to restore security in the Egyptian streets, as people are fed up of the lawlessness and anarchy which have become part and parcel of everyday life here. Since the police withdrew from the streets on 28 January 2011, security has never been completely restored and criminal activity has increased dramatically. The political uprising has also spawned economic hardships across the board. The revolution is often blamed for the mess. The new President has to find quick solutions for an ailing, crippled economy, Fatma says. "The prices of basic commodities are skyrocketing, while we get paid a pittance and can barely afford to survive," she adds. "Even if we weren't happy, we did have stability before [the revolution]. We want our country to evolve, we don't want to be afraid all the time," says Mahmoud el-Sayyad, a senior English teacher at a private school. “We want real stability which we can feel. We want to feel safe walking down the street. We want to leave our cars parked in the street without their getting stolen." "The situation on 25 January 2011 was different from the situation today. People wanted to change the regime, but now they want security and stability," says Moustafa Kamel, a political science professor at Cairo University. “But due to the differences and divisions between the political powers in Egypt, I don't think this will happen soon." The political powers and parties, the military council, the police, the State institutions and the people should all work with President-elect Dr Mohammed Morsi to restore Egypt to the economic and political prominence it used to enjoy among the Arab countries.
