In Egypt's Islamist heartland, voters voice doubts about Muslim Brotherhood

The Brotherhood’s political party has done well in places like Imbaba because the organization has long offered welfare services to the poor, giving free or low-cost medical care, distributing food, and helping Egyptians who struggle to make ends meet. About 40 percent of Egypt’s 82 million citizens live on less than $2 a day.

Big needs

Imbaba resident Hani Ahmed, who works at a newspaper printing press, said there are many needs in the neighborhood. “Transportation is difficult. The garbage – we’re being charged for cleanup but there’s still garbage in the street.”

As he stood outside a polling station with his young daughter and his wife, who wore the face veil called the niqab, he said he had voted for Hamdeen Sabbahi, because he was the candidate most likely to address such issues. Mr. Sabbahi ran on a populist platform, promising to improve the lives of Egypt’s poor and bring social justice to Egypt. “I love the way he thinks. The thing he’s most concerned with is the lower-income people,” said Mr. Ahmed.

At the same polling station, a gregarious woman who gave her name as Nawal showed off her ink-dipped finger, indicating she had voted. She chose Sabbahi as well, she said, a silver tooth gleaming as she smiled. “I voted for the Brotherhood in parliamentary elections. We thought that they would improve things,” she said. “We’re all Muslims, and we thought we’d stand hand in hand with them. But nothing happened.”

She ticked off all the problems residents of Imbaba faced – unemployment, bad education, trouble finding housing, problems with transportation. With only a few months in parliament, and without the power to dissolve the military-appointed cabinet and form a new one, the FJP has had little chance to address such deep-rooted problems.

Yet some voters are cutting the organization little slack, perhaps because its crushing victory and lofty promises raised expectations. Back in the fall, while campaigning in the same part of Imbaba for a parliamentary seat he eventually won, an FJP candidate promised residents he would “make their dreams come true.”

Badr Ishaq, a bicycle repairman who watched voters exit a polling station as he smoked a water pipe in the shade, said his parliamentary vote for the Brotherhood was in vain. This time, he voted for Ahmed Shafiq. Mr. Shafiq is a former head of the Air Force who served as Mubarak’s last prime minister, appointed after the uprising had begun.

Several Imbaba residents said they would vote for Shafiq because they thought he could bring stability and security back to Egypt, which has been wracked with unrest, violence, and crime since the uprising. “The most important thing is that he has a military background, which makes him capable to manage the country during this period,” said Adel Shehata, a teacher who voted for Shafiq. “Security is the No. 1 concern. And whatever he promises, he will do.”

To be sure, many Imbaba residents support Morsi, like Hana Khalaf. As tok-toks dropped people off at a polling station, she said she voted for Morsi because he’s from the Brotherhood. “We will see if they can fix the country and make things better for us,” she said.

Yet if Morsi does win, the expectations may be even higher for his party to do just that – and the blame even stronger if the solutions don’t come as quickly as some expect.

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