CAIRO, Egypt — The first day of Egypt’s landmark presidential election Wednesday was regarded as largely free of fraud and violence, as voters endured long lines and blistering heat to elect a leader more than 15 months after autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak’s ouster.
Voters and election monitors said they were encouraged by the strong turnout, the enthusiasm among those casting ballots and the orderly way in which polling stations were run. There were numerous reports of minor violations, such as campaigning on election day, but no evidence of the type of widespread, state sanctioned fraud that kept Mubarak in power for nearly 30 years.
“Egyptians feel like we were born again today,” businessman Osama Abdel, 58, said as he left a polling station in Cairo’s Dokki district after casting his vote. “This is the first time,” headded, pausing, “since the Ottomans!”
Mohammed Salah, 26, emerged grinning from a poll station, fresh from casting his ballot. “Before, they used to take care of that for me,” he said. “Today, I am choosing for myself.”
Medhat Ibrahim, 58, who suffers from cancer, had tears in his eyes. “I might die in a matter of months, so I came for my children, so they can live,” he said, as he waited to vote in a poor Cairo district. “We want to live better, like human beings.” He later came out flashing a finger stained with the blue ink used to prevent multiple voting. “Mubarak’s policies gave me cancer,” he said, referring to the decline in health care under the last regime. “Now I got my revenge.”
Ahmed Rashid, a market worker who traveled two hours to vote on Cairo’s southern outskirts, calledvoting “a great responsibility for every Egyptian. Each vote counts. This is the freedom we’ve been aspiring toward. I was so excited I nearly sunk all my finger into the ink after I voted.”
Denis Kadima, executive director of the Electoral Institute for the Sustainability of Democracy in Africa, one of the three foreign groups accredited to monitor the election, said early reports from his 85 observers were encouraging. He said his group had received complaints of “subtle campaigning” at polling sites, which is prohibited, but was not aware of serious breaches.
“If things continue the way they are now, this will be a very successful process,” Kadima said. “Everywhere we’ve been throughout the country, it has been peaceful, and things are orderly.”
Voting is to continue today as Egyptians pick from 13 candidates in a race that has no clear front-runner. The contestants are as diverse as citizens are polarized about the kind of leader they want after more than 15 months of military rule. The presumed front-runners include secular candidates who played prominent roles in Mubarak’s government and Islamist leaders who were prosecuted under his police-state laws.
A free presidential vote has been greeted as nothing short of breathtaking by citizens of the Arab world’s most-populous country, who for decades dismissed elections as mere charades designed to give Mubarak’s regime a veneerof legitimacy. Many see it as the culmination of an arduous revolt that left hundreds of Egyptians dead and was followed by a tumultuous period of military rule in which lawlessness has soared and the economy has imploded.
The two secular front-runners are veterans of Mubarak’s regime - former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq and Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister who once served as head of the Arab League.
The main Islamist contenders are Mohammed Morsi of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood and Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh, a moderate Islamist whose inclusive platform has won him the support of some liberals, leftists and minority Christians.
Election observers said participation by women in the election appeared to be particularly strong. Jane Harman, director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a former congressman from California, said she was moved by a lively debate she witnessed between two female voters.
One of the women argued that her rights should be based on the teachings of the Koran, Islam’s holy book. The other disagreed strongly, saying women’s rights should be guaranteed by law.
Haitham Abd el-Zaher, 37, took his 10-year-old son Yousef to a polling station in Cairo’s Agouza district so the child could witness the first competitive presidential election in Egypt’s modern history.
“It’s the most beautiful day. Egyptians are voting,” el-Zaher said. “I want to show him the joy Egypt is experiencing.”
The prevailing mood during the first hours of voting appeared to be one of muted, even wary, optimism. One death was reported, but officials said it involved a police officer killed during a dispute between civilians that was not election-related.
ISLAMIC LAW
An Islamist victory, particularly by Morsi, will likely mean a greater emphasis on religion in government. HisMuslim Brotherhood, which already dominates Parliament, says it won’t mimic Saudi Arabia and force women to wear veils or implement harsh punishments like amputations. But it says it does want to implement a more moderate version of Islamic law, which liberals fear will mean limitations on many rights.
Many of the candidates have called for amendments to Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel, which remains deeply unpopular. None is likely to dump it, but a victory by any of the Islamist or leftist candidates in the race could mean strained ties with Israel and a stronger stance in support of the Palestinians in the peace process.
The candidates from the Mubarak regime - and the Brotherhood, which has already held multiple talks with U.S. officials - are most likely to maintain the alliance with the United States.
A looming question is whether either side will accept victory by the other. Islamists have warned of newprotests if Shafiq wins, which they say can only happen by fraud. Many are convinced the ruling military wants a victory by Shafiq, a former air force commander.
“Over my dead body will Shafiq or Moussa win. Why not just bring back Mubarak?” said Saleh Zeinhom, a merchant backing Abolfotoh. “I’m certain we’ll have a bloodbath after the elections because the military council won’t hand power to anyone but Shafiq.”
NO CONSTITUTION
Among the many aspects of the race still shrouded in suspense is the description of the job the candidates arecompeting to fill.
The council of generals that has ruled Egypt since the ouster of Mubarak has pledged to turn over executive authority after the election.
But a political deadlock prevented the Islamist-dominated Parliament from empaneling a constitutional drafting committee as planned, so Egypt lacks a new charter to define the relative duties and powers of the president, Parliament and the military.
The military council has said it will unilaterally issue an interim constitution before leaving power, but it has not yet done so.
That leaves open the possibility that either the council or, ultimately, the Parliament could define the powers of the presidency differently depending on who appears the more likely winner of the presidential vote. Then there is the still-unsettled question of how much of their current power and autonomy the military’s leaders will be willing to give up.
Information for this article was contributed by Ernesto Londono of The Washington Post; by Hamza Hendawi, Lee Keath, Sarah El Deeb, Maggie Michael, Matt Ford and Aya Batrawy of The Associated Press; by David D. Kirkpatrick, Kareem Fahim, Mayy El Sheikh Dina Salah Amer and Alan Cowell of The New York Times; and by Jeffrey Fleishman and Amro Hassan of the Los Angeles Times.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 05/24/2012