And The Next President Of Egypt Is...?

I've been asked, much like everyone is asking everyone, who I thought would win the runoff elections. Well, on the 8th of April of this year I made my first guess on who I thought was most likely to win Egypt's Presidential Elections, after the full lineup of candidates was becoming clear. My rough calculation, however, was not met at the time with wide endorsement given the presence of more than 1500 announced potential pre-candidates at the time, including all the heavyweights such Omar Soleiman, Khairat Al-Shater, Hazem Abu Ismail, Abdel-Men'eim Abul-Fotouh and Amr Moussa. 

RT @Bassem_Sabry: Late June Headline: Egyptian President Mohammed Morsy?
— Dalia Ezzat (@DaliaEzzat_) June 12, 2012

I am aware of course of all the arguments suggesting that Shafiq "won't be allowed to lose" or that there is rising dissatisfaction with conservative political forces, but I still feel it is more likely Morsi would win. The results of the expat vote are also pushing in that direction. Still, at the time I also felt it was almost impossible for Shafiq to stage a comeback like he did, and I also felt it difficult Sabahi would end up fourth or fifth, let alone third. So nothing is ever certain anymore.

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One Way The Morsi-Shafiq Runoff Could Be Good For Egypt?

Shafiq (left) and Morsi (right)

There is no denying that the results of the first round of the Egyptian elections have left progressive, secular and liberal Egyptians and Revolutionaries in possibly the tightest of spots. They are now forced to vote either for  a strong representative of the regime they fought with their lives to bring down, or the representative of an increasingly hungry and conservative political machine that is out to aggressively establish its hegemony over the Egyptian political scene, yet still represents a break with the previous regime. However, there is one way this possibly could be good for Egypt. Read my piece here on Al-Monitor.

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