When I was growing up in the south Indian city of Madras, there were only two political parties that mattered; one was run by a former matinee idol, and the other was run by his former screenwriter.

Growing up in Egypt, I never saw the country as divided as it is today. We now have two main political groupings: the Islamist parties and the civil, or liberal, political parties.

The political parties have lost their loyalties.

I'm interested in personalities, not political parties.

In democracy to avoid corruption, we change presidents every eight years. We should change the senators for the same reason

The protestors feel that the elections have been hijacked and the choices are between two corrupt parties—that when the power structure no longer represents the people, the vote is no longer a tool for change [Jehane Noujaim, "Tahrir Square, Cairo: Lost and Found in the Square"].