الرئيسية
For decades, Egypt's Westernised elite kept the
country's growing religosity at arm's length, but a projected Islamist
surge in the first post-revolution polls has driven many to think of
moving abroad.(AFP/File/Michel Moutot)
By Hania El Malawani, AFP
CAIRO (AFP) - For decades, Egypt's Westernised elite kept the
country's growing religosity at arm's length, but a projected Islamist
surge in the first post-revolution polls has driven many to think of
moving abroad.
Sporting the latest fashions and mingling in
upmarket country clubs, Egypt's rich fear a victory for the Muslim
Brotherhood and hardline Salafis in the first phase of parliamentary
elections presages change ahead.
"I hope they don't impose the
veil and ban women from driving like in Saudi Arabia," said coquettish
fifty-something Naglaa Fahmi from her gym in the leafy neighbourhood of
Zamalek.
In a nearby luxury hotel, Nardine -- one of Egypt's
eight million Coptic Christians who are alarmed by the prospect of a new
Islamist-dominated parliament -- is pondering a move aroad.
"My
father is seriously thinking about sending me and my brothers elsewhere
because he thinks we won't have a future in the country with the
Salafis," said the banker in her twenties.
Ten months after a
popular uprising ended the 30-year autocratic rule of Hosni Mubarak,
millions of Egyptians embraced their new democratic freedoms earlier
this week at the start of multi-stage parliamentary elections.
The
preliminary results to be published on Friday were expected to show the
moderate Muslim Brotherhood as the dominant force, but with a
surprisingly strong showing from the hardline Al-Nur party.
Its
leaders advocate the fundamentalist brand of Salafi Islam, rejecting
Western culture and favouring strict segregation of the sexes and the
veiling of women.
They say they have been the victims of Islamophobia and sustained fear-mongering by liberals in the Egyptian media.
Nevertheless,
the fear that they will try to impose their values on the rest of
society has driven Angie to consider leaving her comfortable Cairo life
behind.
"My husband recently got a job offer in Dubai. In the
beginning I was hesitant, but now, with all that's happening, I'm
encouraging him to take the job and I'll join him with our daughter,"
she said.
"The Gulf has become more liberal than Egypt," she told AFP.
For Ahmed Gabri, having the Islamists in power means having his freedoms restricted.
"I
will leave the country," said Gabri, a Muslim. "I will not stand living
in a puritanical climate. Why don't they just let people live the way
they want?"
The next parliament will be charged with writing a
new constitution and the idea of an Islamist-dominated assembly has sent
shockwaves through some segments of society.
Many stress the difference, however, between the different Islamist groups.
"They
don't scare me. We have democracy now which means we'll be able to
remove them if they don't suit us," said Manar, a tall blonde in her
40s.
"It's the not the Muslim Brotherhood that worries me because
they want to appear in the best light, it's the Salafis that I'm
concerned about," she said.
Iman Ragab, a shop assistant, has resigned herself to the election's likely outcome.
"This is democracy, you have to accept the results of the ballot," she said.