'No one had ever asked us what we think'

Hussainiya: Thousands of people crowded into a tent on an area of wasteland in this all-but-forgotten town north of Cairo on a recent afternoon to hear Abdul Moneim Abu Al Fotouh.

Some came because they had already decided to vote for the moderate Islamist, a front-runner in the presidential campaign. Others wanted to know more. But all shared the anticipation and sense of responsibility that are building here as the May 23 vote approaches, the first time in modern Egypt that the winner of a presidential election is not a foregone conclusion.

The contrived campaigns and guaranteed landslide victories for autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak were swept away with last year's revolution.

Now 13 candidates — liberals, Islamists and Mubarak-era figures — are vying to succeed him. Mohammad Kamal Tahawy couldn't believe that one of them had come to his town to ask for his vote.

The tour guide listened intently as Abu Al Fotouh told the crowd: "The king of this country, after God, is you, the people of Egypt."

Orange posters emblazoned with his bespectacled face adorned the tent where Tahawy and other supporters cheered him on, fists pumping in the air: "The people want Abu Al Fotouh for president!"

Pleading for votes

Tahawy, like so many other Egyptians, said he had never voted before in a presidential election because the outcome was always predetermined. But this time, Abu Al Fotouh was right; Tahawy and the more than 50 million other eligible voters will decide. "Today is my birthday and I feel alive," Tahawy said on the day he turned 27. "No one has ever come here before. No one has ever asked what we think."

Since the official launch of the campaign season on April 30, presidential contenders have been pleading for votes in television interviews and at rallies.

Rallies

The Muslim Brotherhood is holding so many rallies for its candidate, Mohammad Morsi, that while he attends one, other prominent Brotherhood members hold simultaneous events in other parts of the country.

A couple of days later, Abu Al Fotouh's arch-rival on the campaign trail, Amr Mousa, had lunch with more than 100 representatives of 42 Bedouin tribes.

Most of the tribesmen said he was the right man for this transitional phase.

After all, Mubarak wasn't that bad, said Muftah Gibrany, a member of a Bedouin tribe. "Mubarak's palace was 500 metres from where we live and we used to salute him," Gibrany said. "Now we have hope in Amr Mousa and God to solve our problems."

— Washington Post