To the polls!

Egypt had its Parliamentary elections on Sunday.

They were full of fraud, vote rigging, bribery, and riots in which opposition members were arrested. My friend's comments kind of sum up the Egyptian public's feelings about the idea of "Egyptian democracy." I asked him (rather sarcastically) if he was voting. He laughed and said, "Dena, a better question is, 'do I know anyone who is going to vote?' And the answer is 'no.' Not my friends, not my family, not my fellow students, not my co-workers. No one." I also asked my boss if he was going to vote. He said, "maybe" with a little smile on his face, but I think he was just trying hard not to be jaded and pessimistic. Perhaps it's the effect of all of these North Americans all around him who are always talking about politics and taking your political rights. We're a bit naive and idealistic, us North Americans. Probably because we're used to the outcome of elections actually depending somewhat on our little paper ballots, and probably because we've never been threatened by police batons or told (via money or violence) who we should vote for. Egyptians sometimes call their President (Hosni Mubarak) "La Vache Qui Rit" - which is the name of a kind of cheese that everyone eats here, and which means "The Cow Who Laughs" in French. And, even though there are still some run-off elections going on, Mubarak's National Democratic Party pretty much swept the election (as we all knew it would) so Mubarak is laughing all the way to Parliament. Though, I guess he should be used to this: he's 82 years old (yup, 82), and has been in power since 1981. In other words, his party hasn't lost an election in over 29 years (though, the actual Presidential elections aren't until next year. But don't worry: If he runs, he'll win. If he doesn't run, his son will, and he'll almost definitely win). Now there's a laughing cow for you...