Presidential Elections Voters’ quick info:
First round total: 22,887,921
Morsy: approx. 5,700 million (24.8%)
Shafiq: approx. 5,400 million (23.4%)
Second round total: 25,577,51
Morsy: approx. 13,230 million (51.5%)
Shafiq: approx. 12,347 million (48.3%)
It all boils down to math. There are a few significant points if you study the numbers above. The first striking one is that the number of voters increased in the second round, contrary to popular belief. It would be funny if it weren’t so sad. We really believed that not voting or annulling our votes would do some good, that a low turnout would at least show how farcical the elections were and that the “people of Egypt” refuse to be cornered. But no, we are doomed to frustrations.
Another thing to note is that the winning difference does not amount to the count of Shubra inhabitants. No one swept the country. No one can claim he represents “The People.” Both candidates could round up five million devoted voters, then added around seven million sympathisers on the finals.
So basically, President Morsy knows that he needs to do his best to keep the seven million sympathisers, cut the road for the Shafiq camp to find fault with him, as well as try to win the revolutionaries. You remember those? Remember the ones with the “Bread, Freedom, Social Justice” slogans? They do not seem to stop buzzing in the background,creating a faint noise for the camps of both Morsy and Shafiq. Revolutionaries have indeed been last on the list of anyone’s concern, but they are still on it.
Morsy is on the alert. He wants to spread his authority and keep control of the country. But in order to do so, Egyptians need to see some good days. And in all fairness, Morsy is trying hard. Consider all the decisions he took over the past month and how his government has been handling crisis, from sacking the untouchables of the Egyptian army to the minor subway protests. The man seems to be genuinely trying hard, but his Brothers will bring him down.
When people took to the streets on 24 August answering a call for a “Million Man Protest,” with a turnout of a few thousand, the Muslim Brothers made a field day out of it. Even though they know very well why the turnout was low, they still manipulated the scene to make sure those who oppose them feel left out and alone. The reality of the situation is that those who called for the so-called August “revolution” are not well respected by most factions of this society, save for a few.
Even those who voted for Shafiq do not want to rally behind the likes of Tawfik Okasha and Abu Hamed. Revolutionaries, be they socialist, liberal or any other, will not side with the Shafiq camp. To them, Shafiq is Mubarak after a facelift. And the Shafiq supporters are people who do not go on protests in the first place or are currently sunbathing on the Mediterranean beaches or are too proud to be associated with Okasha on stage. The few that marched behind Abu Hamed are the remaining bunch. Of course it would have a low turnout, but does this mean that the rest of the Egyptian population supports Morsy?
This is the rhetoric used by the Muslim Brotherhood’s leading figures and tiniest boys-on-the-streets. The next morning after the failing 24 August day out in the sun, Muslim Brotherhood Beltagy gave one of the most annoying statements ever: the low turnout means that 99.9% of those who opposed Morsy have become supporters, he said. Now how does he expect those who oppose the Brotherhood to react? They would simply either take to the streets next time Abu Hamed calls on them, or call for their own protest to show the true political scene.
I, for one, belong to the camp that boycotted the final round of elections. I did not find it in me to vote for either candidate, yet for pragmatic reasons I was relieved it was Morsy who won and not Shafiq. Even though I have always seen the Muslim Brothers as bad news and Morsy being their leader is not in his favour, until now he has taken serious reformatory steps and strong decisions, an interesting approach to foreign policy as well as quick fixes for urgent internal crises. But it appears inevitable that a day will come when we will revolt against the Muslim Brothers’ full control of the country and we will have to deal with yet another dictatorship of a one party rule. We will revolt against their arrogance and illusions of absolute acceptance by the people of Egypt.
I did not feel like I needed to go on marches or protests against Morsy and the leaders of the call were no encouragement at all. But now, I am not so sure. When the Muslim Brotherhood spokesperson, who has no legitimate nor official authority, makes statements about Egypt’s political and economic relations with Iran; when the Freedom and Justice party spokesperson says that Morsy has no opposition in the country save for the few who answered last week’s call; when their people on social networks shower us with insults and ugly words if we mention the Muslim Brotherhood or Morsy; when the Editor-in-Chief of Al Dostour is standing trial and the editors of the Muslim Brotherhood’s media outlets get away with lies and insults; when Okasha stands trial and so-called Sheikh Khaled Abdallah still blabbers on his hate-inciting channel, we can get encumbered by anger. And then that million man protest will become a reality the Muslim Brotherhood will have to deal with.
The Muslim Brothers and their people seem to have reached the dizzying heights of drunken power. This is how Morsy will inevitably fall. His Brothers will bring him down.
