Egyptians pleased with revolution, but criticise continuing unrest

ABU DHABI // Egyptians are pleased with this year's revolution but not so happy with the continuing unrest, a recent poll has found.

The poll, compiled for Al Aan TV's Nabd Al Arab (Arabs' Pulse) programme by YouGovSiraj, found three in four (77 per cent) of the 761 people surveyed in Egypt were satisfied with the outcome of this year's revolution.

A smaller majority, 51 per cent, had little or no support for continued street protests.

The survey was conducted from July 26 to August 8, and its margin of error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

Demonstrations in the country have continued after Hosni Mubarak was ousted from the presidency on February 11, with protesters seeking faster reforms.

Fifty-three per cent of those surveyed said people should be patient and wait for change. But 16 per cent believed the protests were spreading chaos in the country.

Hager Mohamed, 27, an Egyptian, said streets in her home country were still unsafe.

"It is hard to go out anywhere and to get on with daily life," Ms Mohamed said. "With so many people on the street still, they are not giving a chance for us to recover."

People were divided over the outcomes of the protests if they continued. Although 39 per cent believed they would increase the pace of change, 48 per cent disagreed.

Of the 146 people unsatisfied with the outcomes of the revolution, 61 per cent said it had divided the population.

Almost half of the 146 said they were unsatisfied because the changes were taking more time than they were supposed to and most promises had not been fulfilled.

Mohamed Issa, an Egyptian who lives in the UAE, said overnight change was impossible.

"Instead of protesting, people on the streets should unite to do something for Egypt," Mr Issa said. "We all want change and hopefully we are going in that direction."

Although most of the people surveyed, 64 per cent, said the situation in Egypt was now better than it was during Mr Mubarak's regime, 52 per cent said the security situation was worse. Only 29 per cent said it was better.

"In Egypt, we spend our life walking from one place to another, but because we feel less safe our life has changed," Ms Mohamed said. "We want to be able to get on with our lives."

People in Egypt ranked basic needs, including food, water and waste collection, as their highest priorities. They also said they wanted democratic elections, employment opportunities and no more corruption, ranking those items higher than equality, human rights and infrastructure.

But as Egyptians looked forward to the elections, 74 per cent said they were optimistic polling would be free and fair this year.

An Egyptian who wished not to be identified said that in previous elections, people would be offered food in exchange for voting for Mr Mubarak.

"People were not allowed to vote for anyone else, and the people who would go and vote would do so willingly only for food or money," he said. The outcome of the elections and the shape of the next government should include Islamic law among several sources for the constitution, said 61 per cent of those surveyed.

But Mark Sulaiman, an Egyptian Christian who lives in Dubai, said a purely secular state would be better.

"You don't want to mix religion with political aspects," Mr Sulaiman said.

Maysoon Baraky, the presenter of Nabd Al Arab, said: "Although the majority of Egyptians seem to be satisfied with what January revolution has lead to, still 48 per cent say that promised changes are taking longer than expected."

Nabd Al Arab is on Al Aan TV at 8pm tonight.

osalem@thenational.ae