JUNE 24 will definitely appear as no other day in the annals of the history of Egypt. When the Higher Presidential Election Commission (HPEC) announced at 03.30pm yesterday the name of Dr Mohamed Morsi as final winner of the race for the nation's top post of president of the republic, it was in fact signalling the undisputed emergence of the free political will of the people of Egypt as the defining factor in domestic politics. Reliance on ballot boxes as the sole channel for the identification of public will and unfledging abidance by the criteria of even-handedness and fairness have unquestionably been the distinguished characteristics of the steps taken so far to establish the main pillars of democracy as indicated by the conduct of parliamentary and presidential elections and run-offs. By all standards, yesterday's event was a historically momentous one indeed, given the immense and long-term consequences of the presidential election on both the future of political democracy and the plausibility of the entire process of political transformation as shaped by the objectives of the January Revolution. In a purely objective perspective, the credit for turning yesterday's event into a momentous one should therefore go first to the martyres and injured citizens who never hesitated to willingly offer whichever sacrifices were deemed necessary for the whole people of Egypt to gain access to fundamental rights on the ground. And now that the presidential election has been accomplished in all transparency and fairness, the credit should also go to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) for having honoured its pledge to pursue the transition to democracy in accordance with the declared roadmap as well as for the meticulous arrangements it has adopted to guard balloting stations and voters in the length and breadth of the country. Doubtlessly, the presidential election has been tense and nerve-rocking all through, and has been even ferocious at times, especially during the run-off, but the overall attitudes of the electorate, irrespective of whom they voted for, deserve special acknowledgement, having seriously and enthusiastically contributed to setting forth to the whole world that democratic practices can work fine in Egypt and that Egyptians can expeditiously and credibly move ahead with re-building their political life according to their own choices and free will. For all those who deserve credit for having contributed to the June 24 magnificent event, the moment is one of due gratification and is equally one of necessary contemplation into what is still lying ahead until the objectives of the January Revolution and the legitimate aspirations of the whole people of Egypt are realized.
