Egyptians Go to Polls in Presidential Election
by DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and ALAN COWELL, nytimes.comMay 23rd 2012
CAIRO — After weeks of fevered debate, speculation and argument, Egyptians went to the polls on Wednesday in the Arab world's first competitive presidential election, choosing between a dozen candidates spanning the nation's secular and Islamist traditions.
Soldiers stand guard as people wait outside a polling station in Cairo.
In the run-up to the ballot, there have been no reliable opinion surveys nor is there a permanent constitution to set the president's duties and powers. But the vote is widely seen as crucial, choosing a leader to influence Egypt's course for decades to come.
Some 50 million Egyptians are eligible to vote and of the candidates around four or five are seen as plausible contenders.
From the Islamist side, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh has campaigned as a relative liberal while Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood has offered a more conservative vision.
Two candidates held positions under Hosni Mubarak, deposed 15 months ago as the Arab Spring began to stir revolt in many parts of the Arab world — the former prime minister, Ahmed Shafik, and Amr Moussa, a former diplomat and elder statesman.
A fifth candidate is the Nasserite, Hamdeen Sabbahy, a poet-turned-populist who is campaigning as a political descendant of the leader of the Egyptian revolution of 1952, President Gamal Abdel Nasser.
The ballot represented a remarkable break with the traditions of the Mubarak era when presidential elections simply confirmed the ruling elite in a land that for decades has been used to power exercised by presidents drawn from the military after centuries of highly centralized rule.
Since the fall of Mr. Mubarak, the military has continued to play a dominant role in steering the transition.
In a speech last week, the leader of the ruling military council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, promised to ensure a fair vote in the presidential election but also said the military would retain a "duty" to protect Egypt from domestic disturbances as well as to defend it against foreign threats.
The military has promised to relinquish power on July 1.
"With these elections, we will have completed the last step in the transitional period," Maj. Gen. Mohamed el-Assar told a news conference on the eve of voting, Reuters reported.
Egypt's future is also being closely watched outside the country, particularly in the West and in Israel, in case Islamists make further gains that could jeopardize Cairo's peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of Washington's regional policy.
Earlier this year, Egyptians voted in parliamentary elections, now seen as something of a dry run because under the country's current military rulers the Parliament has turned out to have little power. Some voters say they regret supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, whose candidates won that election.
Across the nation, thick layers of campaign posters cover walls, while banners hang from billboards and trees.
The first round of the election is to be held Wednesday and Thursday at around 13,000 polling stations with a runoff between the top two contenders in mid-June.
One of the biggest issues is the pervasive lawlessness that has become the biggest change in daily life since last year's revolution. Such random, violent crime was almost unheard-of when the police state was strong.
All the presidential candidates have said they will make law and order a top priority by getting the police back to work, restoring the force's morale and teaching its officers about human rights. But while the two leading Islamist contenders talk about reforming the police force, Mubarak-era officials in the running emphasize cracking down with a strong hand.
The polls opened with reports of long lines and enthusiastic voters preparing to cast their ballots.
David D. Kirkpatrick reported from Cairo, and Alan Cowell from Paris.
Original Page: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/24/world/middleeast/egypt-presidential-election.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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