Mubarak's personal poll booth gets the public's vote

An elderly man is helped through a line of soldiers on guard after voting at a girls school formerly used by the Mubarak family and clique as a personal polling booth.

CAIRO // In Heliopolis, an upmarket district of Cairo, deposed president Hosni Mubarak had his villa, his presidential palace and his personal polling station.

This latter place, a public girls' school seared into the collective memory of Egyptians, is now being used by voters in the first election since the fall of the former autocratic.

What was once a backdrop for his charade of democracy is now being used by locals who feel they finally have a stake in the future of their country.

"This office was reserved for Mubarak and his clique," said Mustafa Ahmed, an official from the information ministry, as he pointed to the Girls' School of Heliopolis guarded by four soldiers.

"The roads used to be shut and they used to roll out the red carpet... all for a big show," he said, adding with pride that he had voted for the first time in his life on Monday at the age of 58. "Before, like 90 per cent of the people in Heliopolis, I used to abstain from voting because everyone knew what the result would be," he said.

Mr Mubarak, a former military officer who came to power in 1981, survived 10 attempts on his life during his rule that was maintained through widespread vote-rigging and repression.

The first election since his toppling in February began on Monday in the main cities of Cairo and Alexandria, as well as a handful of other districts, in a peaceful and orderly opening to multi-stage parliamentary polls.

"When I used to see him voting, I'd change channels. It was a complete act," said Medhat, a 49-year-old engineer who voted at the school on Monday.

After Mr Mubarak's fall and the start of his trial for corruption and killing protesters, casting a vote in his former ballot box feels like revenge for many Egyptians.

"He used to say that Egyptians weren't ready for democracy. Here's the proof he was wrong," said Mohammed, a 23-year employee at a bank, pointing to the long queues of people waiting to vote on Monday.

"Before he used to insult our intelligence. We all knew that the people from the NDP [Mubarak's party] were going to win," said Yasser Abdel Wahab, an engineer who voted for the first time.

"All that is in the past now. Today at least there is a bit of suspense, even though the Muslim Brotherhood think they're going to win," he said, referring to the moderate Islamist party banned by Mr Mubarak.

"There won't be another president elected with 99.99 per cent. It's an era of pluralism now," he added.

Nothing in the school offers a reminder of the old regime, but the bustling polling booth is a symbol of the changes of 2011, unimaginable by most this time last year when parliamentary elections were held.

"This place is a disgrace," said Khadiga, 23, a graphic designer, as she left Heliopolis Girls' School. "I'm sad to have voted in the same place as him.

"We didn't used to know when there were elections. We realised after when we read about it in the newspaper or saw footage on television," she said.

Mubarak is in a military hospital where he is being treated for a heart condition, according to the interim government. His lawyer has also claimed he has cancer.