CAIRO: Nearly eight months after an uprising toppled former president Hosni Mubarak, most Egyptians are struggling to remain optimistic about their transition to democracy, with the current instability causing some to express a feeling of resentment towards the revolution.
"I am optimistic, but at the same time I can’t help having some concerns," Mohamed Anwar, a doctor, said.
According to a poll published in June 2011 by the Cabinet’s Public Opinion Poll Center, nearly 56 percent of the surveyed sample believed at the time that the country was heading in the right direction, with only 11 percent expressing some concerns about security issues.
But today, the thrill experienced by many like Anwar on Feb. 11 is now overshadowed by the current events Egypt is witnessing.
The economy remains one of the main concerns, with annual inflation reaching 12 percent in August, and unemployment rate increasing from 9 percent in 2010 to 11.8 percent in 2011, according to CAPMAS.
Since main sectors of the economy have suffered from the political instability, some are beginning to express concerns about the impact this could have on the revolution. "Whether the upper classes or the lower classes of the society, those negatively impacted on the economic level are beginning to express some resentment towards the revolution," Anwar said.
A sentiment shared by Mohamed Khaled, a currently unemployed 40-year-old driver, who said that "The revolution didn’t succeed," and that it had a "negative impact on the poor."
Khaled said he has been struggling to find work since the revolution.
"Before the revolution, we used to have better standards of living. Since then, there is no security. The revolution did free us from police brutality, but I prefer bribing an officer with LE 20 than having everything taken away from me by thugs who will harm my wife and my daughter," he said.
Khaled also pointed the finger of blame on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, accusing them of being reluctant to improve Egypt’s conditions. "It doesn’t want to solve our problems," he said.
According to Ahmed Nagy Amha, analyst at the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, "Although there was a strong sense of optimism among Egyptians, lately however, some people are more and more concerned with the security and the stability of the country,” he said.
Amha said this feeling of insecurity especially increases on Fridays, when the army and the police are completely absent from the streets. “This is why some citizens are getting more and more annoyed by all the protests that the country is witnessing," he said.
"Politically, we have no roadmap, and sometimes I feel the protesters are taking it too far," Anwar explained.
Heba Abdel Hafez, a secretary, said she is confused as to who she should trust; the protesters or the army. On the other hand, she urged protesters to be patient. “Why can’t the people who have been waiting for 30 years wait a few more months until we have a new president who will consider their demands?" she asked.
Meanwhile, others fully support the ongoing protests and strikes. “People are just experiencing newfound freedom of speech, with time and practice we will learn how to use it in the right way," explained Haytham Rabie, a financial analyst.
Some remain optimistic, like Hajj Mahmoud, a bread vendor who claims that Egypt is undergoing the same experiences of other countries that saw revolutions. "Egyptians, who won the 6th of October war and built the Suez Canal, are capable of achieving the impossible," said.
