Does the apparent success of the Justice and Freedom Party in the first round of elections in Egypt mean something sinister? With the majority of the population outside of Cairo, and a long way from Tahrir Square, are their needs being ignored, or put aside in the quest for democracy? Democracy for who? The illiterate? The farmers? The small shopkeepers? Or the liberal, middle classes who do not know hunger, can afford 20LE for latte as opposed to the majority who would not even know what a latte is?
Is this apparently large vote for the JFP a reflection of what they want, or is it buying votes? If it is buying votes, then are they looking directly at the majority of the population's needs and will they come good on that?
I was told that the MB would never win any elections, the people do not want it, but it seems my source was wrong...... possibly.
Many questions, and maybe no answers......... just food for thought
Some interesting comments by an aquaintance of mine, Nicole Hansen, living and working in Cairo.
"A suggestion to my liberal friends: Fast tomorrow, and reflect on what it is like to be hungry. Don't go to Cilantro for your 20LE latte and muffin. The people who voted for FJP and Nour parties because they gave them food ormoney didn't do so because they are uneducated or because they are religious zealots, but because when one has to choose between life and death, people will always choose life. Until survival is no longer the primary concern of the majority of the population, then the people will logically choose who feeds them"
And
"On CBC a few weeks ago they brought this guy in from the Fayyum to be interviewed in the studio. He was 52 years old but looked 75, had no steady job, his wife earned 150LE a month. They rent a house for 200LE a month, are 6 months overdue on their rent and their lease is up in May. They have no furniture and sleep on the floor. They eat beans and macaroni from a charity, usually 1 meal a day. He had an old mobile, he didn't buy it, he happened to have found it in the street that day, and didn't even know how to turn off the ringer when it rang in the middle of the program. His daughter is first in her class in school but he cant afford to buy her new clothes for the eid. They asked him if he knew who the prime minister was, he didn't. And you know what, he told the interviewer he knew people who had it a lot worse than he did. That is the average Egyptian for you."
Is this apparently large vote for the JFP a reflection of what they want, or is it buying votes? If it is buying votes, then are they looking directly at the majority of the population's needs and will they come good on that?
I was told that the MB would never win any elections, the people do not want it, but it seems my source was wrong...... possibly.
Many questions, and maybe no answers......... just food for thought
Some interesting comments by an aquaintance of mine, Nicole Hansen, living and working in Cairo.
"A suggestion to my liberal friends: Fast tomorrow, and reflect on what it is like to be hungry. Don't go to Cilantro for your 20LE latte and muffin. The people who voted for FJP and Nour parties because they gave them food ormoney didn't do so because they are uneducated or because they are religious zealots, but because when one has to choose between life and death, people will always choose life. Until survival is no longer the primary concern of the majority of the population, then the people will logically choose who feeds them"
And
"On CBC a few weeks ago they brought this guy in from the Fayyum to be interviewed in the studio. He was 52 years old but looked 75, had no steady job, his wife earned 150LE a month. They rent a house for 200LE a month, are 6 months overdue on their rent and their lease is up in May. They have no furniture and sleep on the floor. They eat beans and macaroni from a charity, usually 1 meal a day. He had an old mobile, he didn't buy it, he happened to have found it in the street that day, and didn't even know how to turn off the ringer when it rang in the middle of the program. His daughter is first in her class in school but he cant afford to buy her new clothes for the eid. They asked him if he knew who the prime minister was, he didn't. And you know what, he told the interviewer he knew people who had it a lot worse than he did. That is the average Egyptian for you."
Felucca Girl, do you think that these 'revolutionaries' up in Cairo, with their jobs in lovely A/C offices and factories etc for international companies and governmnet departments have the slightest idea of what life is like for the millions of Egyptians who are actually living on the very 'edge' of life?
ReplyDeleteTheir heartlessness makes me ashamed!
Probably not Our Luxor..... probably not
ReplyDelete