He understands Egypt is about Egyptians first, all Egyptians regardless of their religion or lack of.

And he understands that a war, internally or externally is not what we desire nor need.

These are not his wishes: these are ours, our own desires, despairs, hopes and dreams. What sets him apart is that he can hear and see us.

That is all.

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Egyptian writer Naima Nas describes herself as “An Egyptian absent from Egypt in body but present in heart mind and soul – a daughter of a nation trying to do the right thing at a time when every minute counts.”

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To Sisi or not to See

I wrote this in February in a note titled If I were the boy!

“There is no magic instant fix to al our problems. I have no access to pots of money, nor wands to change it all for the best. So I won’t lie to you. It is not going to get wonderful anytime soon. And unless we buckle up and work together it is not going to get better at all. It is going to be tougher than it ever was because we have wasted more time than we ever should have. And if we do not apply some common sense and let the one industry we can count on be revived and soon, we are in deep trouble.

If you can understand all that, I promise you I will personally see that corruption is tackled wherever it is found. But there will be no sudden magic cure. If this is ok I will run for President.”

Three months later el-Sisi might as well have been reading from my note as he gave his interview.

No I am not a fortune teller.

But It is not rocket science.

Every Egyptian with any level of awareness that is not eclipsed by religious fanaticism knows this.  How to address the problems realistically is the question. The fanatic, the bitter, and the even some very noble revolutionaries whose vision has been blurred with the heightened state of revolt will refute some or all of this. But let us be honest and realistic: a state of permanent revolt is not sustainable physically, psychologically nor financially.

Reality must catch on at some point.

And right now the reality is: it is time to get our head above water or drown. Sanity dictates that a population that is increasing alarmingly as you read this must pause and reconsider its resources. A nation with such impact politically and strategically must regain its balance, not only for its own sake and the sake of those living in it but also for the sake of everyone around it.

I am going to be blunt and it will please no one.

The last government kept its popularity by pretending to be the saving warrior of a foreign cause.

The truth is sane Egyptians have one primary demand of the president and the government, past, present or future. Serve Egypt first. Friends of Egypt are dear especially those who stand by Egypt and we cherish them all but we serve Egypt first. Sisi understands that because he is tuned in, he sees and hears us all and that is what we want.

Serve Egypt and Egyptians as a priority above all other priorities.

Thirty years of wars did not serve Egypt, Sadat understood that, he served Egypt and paid for it with his life. 30 more years of exploitation of the whole nation did not serve Egypt and we are done with those who ignored that.

A single year in power made it absolutely clear that the government did not understand how to serve the nation.

We did not need more religion, we are plenty religious and always have been.

We did not need more Burkas on TV or less Ballet.

We did not need more nightmarish existence for women prowled upon by the socially and sexually frustrated beasts. We did not need to consider lowering the marriage age to 9 for girls while men in their late twenties have no hope in hell of finding a source of income to sustain a wife. Not even one who is a grown up and can work!

Most of all we did not need a blind eye to the training camps for terror on our soil. And all this proved with no doubt that the government was out of touch with the nation’s needs, a nation in which a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line, and by poverty I do not mean no meat and no bottled water: I mean not even stale bread and no running water.

Now we have a candidate who understands what we need, he is listening and acting upon it. He has been doing so first as a quiet soldier of Egypt and now as potentially a leader of the nation. He understands we have no money to waste and the next two years will be tough, but if we all get on with it then in two years we’ll see signs of improvement.

He understands Egypt is about Egyptians first, all Egyptians regardless of their religion or lack of.

And he understands that a war, internally or externally is not what we desire nor need.

These are not his wishes: these are ours, our own desires, despairs, hopes and dreams. What sets him apart is that he can hear and see us.

That is all.

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