The spring isnt over

Revolutions are hardheaded. In their stubborn insistence on the removal of an old order,they seldom settle for half-measures. In Egypt,Monday is election day the first parliamentary elections since the fall of Mubarak. This should have been the apogee of an upheaval that began gloriously in Tahrir Square early this year and had a domino effect across the Arab world. But even as ballots are ready,Cairos streets are convulsing in a sense of betrayal,only accentuated by the military council appointing a man who was once Mubaraks prime minister,Kamal el-Ganzouri,to head an interim government. Tens of thousands of protesters decry the military rulers for attempting to entrench the old guard rather than in overseeing a quick transition of power to a new civilian government.

It is not just Cairo that is negotiating its road to democracy; there are Sanaa and Damascus as well. In Yemen,after 33 years of Ali Abdullah Salehs reign,presidential elections will finally be held in February. Syria,which came down hard on those protesting against President Bashar al-Assad according to the UN,3,500 people have been killed over the past eight months and which has been censured and sanctioned by the West,confronts possible sanctions from the Arab League.

The events of Cairo,the post-script to its anti-Mubarak uprising,hold lessons for the entire region. The people on the streets have to be convinced of the trajectory of their revolution,and their call for democracy needs to be fully heard and responded to,but political processes are not determined in squares. That requires strong political will and leaders who draw legitimacy from popular support and who can draw a blueprint for the future. Before that,revolutionaries will insist that the last vestiges of the old reign be confined to the dustbin of history.