The way ahead

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Whatever reservations the public might have had about the presidential elections the fact is that they have catapulted Egypt -- and perhaps the region -- into a period of unprecedented political revival. Now that the people have had their say all eyes are on the president who will now have to turn the political, economic, and social programme promised in the campaign into reality.

This, however, is not the only story. The public had the chance to decide on the outcome of the elections and with that chance -- with the right to vote -- come certain obligations. The public must become more engaged in the political process. Eligible voters must procure their voting cards on time and then use them. For their part, political forces must play fair. Opposition is an integral part of any democratic regime and it is a pointless exercise to continue hurling accusations that the opposition is somehow unpatriotic.

Egypt needs a new institutional culture. Vital institutions, including the media, operate in a manner that is out of step with the times. The media needs to revise its discourse and concentrate on presenting the public with facts rather than justifications. Journalists, as much as politicians, must learn how to gauge the mood of the public -- in schools and universities, farms and factories. Elections are about trust and everyone in a position of responsibility must earn the trust of the public.

No government can hope to achieve its goals without the support of the public. To move forward requires cooperation. Progress depends on our ability to abandon outmoded ways of doing things.

In the past few weeks it has become clear that there is a great deal of room for improvement in both the media and civil society. There is, too, an urgent need for a complete overhaul of the way parliamentary elections are conducted. We need to improve the parliamentary representation of political forces, to restructure the media, to give the cabinet more power and subject its actions to effective parliamentary scrutiny. And we need to turn the president's campaign programme into a set of clear plans with timetables and areas of clearly demarcated responsibility.