As Egypt's presidential election presents extraordinary challenges, GlobalPost offers this continuing series to shed light on how the country will move forward under its first-ever civilian head of state and how the soon-to-be-drafted constitution will protect civil rights in a new Egypt.
Soldiers stand guard as as Egyptian woman wait to enter a polling station in Cairo on May 23, 2012, during the country's first presidential election since a popular uprising toppled Hosni Mubarak. Egyptians vote in historic presidential elections contested by Islamists and secularists promising different futures for the country after the overthrow of veteran dictator Hosni Mubarak.
The executive director of Women for Afghan Women sat down with GlobalPost after Amnesty International's Shadow Summit in Chicago and talked women's shelters and Taliban death threats.
The revolution isn't over. The historic events of last year's 'January 25 Revolution' that toppled the government of Hosni Mubarak are still unfolding here as Egypt prepares for a presidential election on May 23 and 24, continuing the journey from Tahrir Square to the ballot box.
The election marks a turning point in a new Egypt as the country seeks to transition from the heady days of the demonstrations in Tahrir Square to military rule and now to a new democracy. Voters here say their primary concern is the country's flagging economy, dominating a civic debate that includes the role of Egypt's powerful military in governing Egypt and how the soon-to-be-drafted constitution will balance religious law and civil rights including representation for women, progressives and religious minorities.
One looming question that hangs over this election is what role power the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces will have under Egypt's first civilian president and how the executive and the parliament will check its far reaching power and its sprawling financial empire.
This team, which includes Egyptian and American reporters, seeks to tell the story of Egypt's 'unfinished revolution,' searching for stories that will enlighten and inform GlobalPost's audience on the historic events still unfolding in Cairo.
GlobalPost will tell the story of Egypt's presidential elections and its birth of a new democracy by focusing on the role of five key elements of Egyptian society: 1) The military; 2) Women; 3) Coptic Christians, 4) Islamists and 5) organized labor.
Funding for this project is provided by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation as part of its U.S. Global Health Policy program.
Funding for this project is provided by the Ford Foundation.
