Is Democracy working in Egypt?

By: Lauren Unger-Geoffroy

We asked Lauren Unger-Geoffroy, an
international artist who lives in Cairo, to share her perspective of
life in Egypt after the revolution. In this entry, she writes about
Egypt’s imminent presidential election.

Here in Cairo every conversation turns to
this week’s presidential election, hopefully the first true democratic
election in the country’s history. Since Egypt’s first presidential
debate May 10, which featured the two leading candidates—liberal Amr
Moussa and moderate Islamist Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh—every person has
reflected, discussed and rethought their choices.

It has been an amazing few weeks of logical
discussions, without violence or blood. People are truly searching for a
best choice, and beginning to really believe they can decide the future
of their nation. In every cafe, shop, office, street and home, people
are calmly exchanging their thoughts and opinions and weighing pros and
cons.

It remains to be seen whether they will
understand and accept the principle of democracy: The candidate chosen
by the majority becomes the president, and the other contenders must
yield to the voters’ decision, game over.

I watched most of the four-hour marathon
debate over pastries and 7UP at the home of my former neighbors and
close friends, a retired general and his wife with whom I had passed
many evenings during the first 18 days of the revolution.

The apartment building where the general and his wife live, and I used
to also, is on an isolated dark street. Near the end of the time I lived
there, it had been evacuated except for my two female roommates and me,
a Chinese guy who kept telling us that we would be raped and killed,
and the general and his extended family, who own the building. We had no
TV in our flat, where all that remained were our mattresses and piles
of books. We were all about to move. I was in the middle of relocating
to the apartment building I live in now when it was firebombed and the
area became inaccessible. So I stayed on with my roommates huddled in
our empty apartment, listening to the shots and explosions and yelling
outside through bolted shutters with lights out so as not to reveal our
presence. Severe curfews were in place, tanks and thugs were everywhere,
gunshots were coming from all directions and men stood guard with
baseball bats and sabers around campfires at street intersections,
serving as block patrols. The telephone and Internet had been cut off,
and food was scarce.

Back then, we gathered cautiously
downstairs in front of the general’s TV while his son and grandson took
their turns as street guards with the other men of the block. I remember
how the general spoke of President Hosni Mubarak’s appointing Ahmed
Shafik as prime minister at that time. The general knew Shafik well,
having fought beside him, and didn’t like him. The general had been
invited to state military affairs and honor dinners, but he had no love
for those he considered corrupt and he was happy for the revolution.

As we watched the debate two weeks ago, I
was looking forward to seeing how the general felt about the candidates,
knowing that he was somewhat religious and sympathetic to the Muslim
Brotherhood, following a few of its religious speakers. Before the
debate started, he told me he had no preference for one candidate over
the other.

Here in Cairo every conversation turns to
this week’s presidential election, hopefully the first true democratic
election in the country’s history. Since Egypt’s first presidential
debate May 10, which featured the two leading candidates—liberal Amr
Moussa and moderate Islamist Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh—every person has
reflected, discussed and rethought their choices.

It has been an amazing few weeks of logical
discussions, without violence or blood. People are truly searching for a
best choice, and beginning to really believe they can decide the future
of their nation. In every cafe, shop, office, street and home, people
are calmly exchanging their thoughts and opinions and weighing pros and
cons.

It remains to be seen whether they will
understand and accept the principle of democracy: The candidate chosen
by the majority becomes the president, and the other contenders must
yield to the voters’ decision, game over.

I watched most of the four-hour marathon
debate over pastries and 7UP at the home of my former neighbors and
close friends, a retired general and his wife with whom I had passed
many evenings during the first 18 days of the revolution.

The apartment building where the general and his wife live, and I used
to also, is on an isolated dark street. Near the end of the time I lived
there, it had been evacuated except for my two female roommates and me,
a Chinese guy who kept telling us that we would be raped and killed,
and the general and his extended family, who own the building. We had no
TV in our flat, where all that remained were our mattresses and piles
of books. We were all about to move. I was in the middle of relocating
to the apartment building I live in now when it was firebombed and the
area became inaccessible. So I stayed on with my roommates huddled in
our empty apartment, listening to the shots and explosions and yelling
outside through bolted shutters with lights out so as not to reveal our
presence. Severe curfews were in place, tanks and thugs were everywhere,
gunshots were coming from all directions and men stood guard with
baseball bats and sabers around campfires at street intersections,
serving as block patrols. The telephone and Internet had been cut off,
and food was scarce.

Back then, we gathered cautiously
downstairs in front of the general’s TV while his son and grandson took
their turns as street guards with the other men of the block. I remember
how the general spoke of President Hosni Mubarak’s appointing Ahmed
Shafik as prime minister at that time. The general knew Shafik well,
having fought beside him, and didn’t like him. The general had been
invited to state military affairs and honor dinners, but he had no love
for those he considered corrupt and he was happy for the revolution.

As we watched the debate two weeks ago, I
was looking forward to seeing how the general felt about the candidates,
knowing that he was somewhat religious and sympathetic to the Muslim
Brotherhood, following a few of its religious speakers. Before the
debate started, he told me he had no preference for one candidate over
the other.

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