The competition for the presidential elections is moving in parallel with the battle to draft the constitution in Egypt, and the two cannot be considered separately. Indeed, the next president is supposed to be the president of the Revolution's regime, and the constitution will lay the foundations for governance in the country after many long years of tyranny, oppression and corruption. Yet it seems that active parties with connections to both tracks consider the issue of the Revolution to have ended and passed – to be a matter that has been settled, and one that should no longer be discussed or used to distract the people away from determining their fate by selecting the president and the constitution. This is with the knowledge that the Revolution did not aim only at changing the president or the regime, but also at bringing Egypt to broader horizons in which it would restore its position at the international and regional levels, and in which ordinary Egyptian citizens would regain their dignity at every level. The debate over the standards followed by the constituent assembly in drafting the constitution will of course be followed by conflict over the articles of the constitution, and the formation of the assembly will reflect the articles of the new constitution. Indeed, those who will be selected to be members of the assembly will themselves be the ones to define the shape of the state as a regime and as a government, and the laws that will govern relations between its members, the balance of power between its institutions and the boundaries separating its main branches. It is therefore impossible to speak of an end to the conflict over the constitution until a referendum has been held over its articles, knowing that the Islamist movement in general and the Muslim Brotherhood in particular have had the opportunity to absorb broad expanses of tension for the other competing forces and to remove the reasons for the ongoing conflict of “interests” between political forces. Similarly, secular forces too had the opportunity to contain the influence of the Islamists' parliamentary majority in both the People's Assembly and the Shura Council, as well as their strong presence in the street, and to put a stop to the state of polarization witnessed by Egyptian society. But this is the phase of missed opportunities. On the whole, the battle of the presidential elections remains the one that holds most concern for ordinary citizens, who are observing the interactions taking place on the issue of the constitution, while they have the opportunity to participate in the presidential race. And this has been reflected in the number of those who headed to the headquarters of the judicial commission supervising the presidential elections, obtained the documents for candidacy, stood in front of spotlights and cameras and spoke to the media – then were seen in the evening appearing as guests on local and satellite television shows! The issue turned into “comedic” segments, alleviating the impact of a difficult life on citizens through “parodies”, such as the “cab driver” who obtained the documents for candidacy, the “doorman” who sees no difference between himself and any other candidate since all citizens are equal in rights and obligations, or the “housewife” who resolved to run as candidate because she is the one most able to control the state's budget by virtue of her experience in controlling the household budget! Noteworthy is the fact that the law did not impose any fees for obtaining candidacy documents, and that any citizen passing by the judicial commission's headquarters can enter, apply for candidacy, obtain the required documents and come out to announce that they have become a potential candidate. And if the law did place some conditions for candidates to obtain the support of 30 Members of Parliament, or 30 thousand powers of attorney from citizens spread over 15 Egyptian provinces, such powers of attorney are also available at deed registry offices for free and without any fees. Thus the presidential elections are for free for all hopefuls during the first phase, and later the “real” candidates who would meet the conditions of candidacy will have to gather expenses and colossal sums of money to spend on their promotional campaigns, and to respond to accusations of having received funds from this or that foreign country, or support from certain parties or from groups of businessmen. On the other hand, obtaining the full set of conditions for any bid or even for a land distribution contest between graduates requires large amounts of money, and young people are thus unable to contribute to building their future and their country! Let us not here forget to point out that no other elections take place for free, including parliamentary and local elections, as those who wish to run as candidates must always pay fees to obtain candidacy documents in order to prove that they are serious, and to avoid the “lust” for exhibition and attention-grabbing. Some have considered this to be deliberate, and to reflect intentions of “dwarfing” the next president, or of comparing him to those “go-getters” of candidacy documents, so as to know in advance what his size, influence and position will be among the other branches of government dominated by Islamist forces! Others have considered the matter to reflect the extent of the oppression Egyptians have suffered from, and the great distance separating the people from those who were ruling them for decades – with every citizen now wishing to govern themselves by themselves without a ruler! On the whole, the joking will end, the period for obtaining candidacy applications will pass, and the “serious business” will begin, with the struggle intensifying over the high-ranking position… Thus the “for free” phase will pass, and the race will continue with those who have the white collars… and the money.
