Time and time again I hear the familiar phrase, "let's boycott the upcoming election." Or, "let's send a message by not participating." We have a couple of problems with this way of thinking.
Let's go back to the January 25th revolution. Thousands, maybe perhaps millions, of people gathered on the streets to get what they want. They worked together for a greater cause, and succeeded in their many missions. So the problem, I feel, is when it comes time to make progress and decide on important steps the Egyptian people almost become children in their stubborn-like manor.
If we are doing all of this hard-work, and all of these protests to really get the vision we are seeking, we cannot back out of the growing process! Even if we have issues with the candidates. We don't like Sisi, we have an issue with this candidate or that one, we have to take a step forward. Taking a step forward means making progress. Making progress means not backing out or giving up when the road gets tough. If we feel we are not represented in the political parties, the answer is not to say "forget it" but to say "who can I mould my vision into?"
In a democratic country, it is the responsibility of the elected President to answer the pleas of the people, and to do their best to economically further the country. We are experiencing power outages? So maybe our focus shouldn't be strictly politics or traditional background, but maybe our focus should be on who has the best sustainable plan for fixing the current ongoing problems.
The problem we are facing now, is that the Egyptian people are dealing with the democratic process with an "all or nothing" view. Either everything is absolutely perfect, or everyone declares no voting! If we never get around to voting, how will we ever move forward? Where is the progress in the country if we always take two steps back when we don't get our way?
Practicing the right to vote is so crucial to furthering the democracy in any country. Just because the candidates aren't ideal, doesn't mean we have to ruin everything by not voting and then complaining later. Where is the progress here? Let's boycott the idea of boycotting. This is our country, we are the ones responsible for how it turns out!
