Prosperity needs peace

On May 23 and 24, approximately 23 million Egyptian voters — accounting for about 46 percent of the electorate — flocked to polling stations across the country to choose their nation’s next president, or as it turned out, the two contenders in a June 16/17 runoff between Mohamed Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq. The monumental election, seen as the first free and fair process ever for most Egyptians to determine their country’s leader, was hoped to bring final closure on thirty years of authoritarian rule under Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak, once touted as modern Egypt’s pharaoh and blamed for the country’s corruption-induced economic hardships, was deposed as president in February 2011 and sentenced to incarceration for the rest of his life on June 2. He was held responsible for the death of protesters in the Tahrir uprising that led to his resignation. The biggest challenge that the country faces now is building