After being oppressed and persecuted for 84 years, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is now enjoying a historic vindication and a rare opportunity of having its candidate, Mohammed Morsi, becoming the first civilian to be President in modern Egyptian history.

President Morsi has portrayed himself as kind, fair, uninterested in power. He is trying to present a new kind of charisma based on his self-reliance, personal values and principles, his energy and his way of treating people as they want to be treated.

This is evident in his recent refusal to have his portrait hung in schools and government buildings as was customary or to move into the presidential palace, opting instead to live in his own apartment in a suburb east of Cairo, his refusal to halt traffic when his motorcade is on the move or in allowing his presidential palace to become a new venue for airing grievances.

This represents a dramatic change in style and substance from the former President who increasingly alienated himself from his people, a change which will be warmly welcomed by many Egyptians who expect President Morsi to not only address the issues of a certain sector of society but also to allay the concerns of liberals, women and Christians. In this context, we can understand his announcements of appointing a Copt, a woman, and a revolutionary as his deputies and his promise that his presidential team will have people of all shades of politics.

Many Egyptians and foreigners alike were concerned that an Islamist candidate’s ascent to power will turn Egypt into a state where all aspects of life are Islamised and Sharia law is applied. However, the many rumours about the nature of the laws that Islamists will seek to implement have turned out to be lies or exaggerations, with President Morsi repeatedly pledging to maintain the secular nature of the state.

For Egyptians, religion has shaped the seven days of man, whether Muslim or Copt or Jew, as an Egyptian novelist said, but the kind of Islam embraced by the majority of Egyptians is a moderate one. Accordingly, it is naïve to assume that any regime will be able to dictate Egyptians’ beliefs or reshape a new path for them.

It is also naïve to assume that the fact that Islamists are in power will affect the status of non-Muslims in Egypt because Egyptians have lived together before religion and are living together after religion, with the same traditions, the same culture and a single identity, which was demonstrated during the January 25 revolution.

Moreover, no one can apply Sharia law before eradicating poverty completely and this will take decades.

Another myth associated with Dr Morsi’s presidency is that the status of women will suffer a setback. This myth ignores the fact that, while women in Europe were suffering till the beginning of the 20th century from traditional restrictions on their economic rights, education and personal freedom and the lack of financial independence (Virginia Woolf in her book A Room of One’s Own), women in a truly Islamic society for the last 1,400 years have the right to education, to own property and to have financial independence, to divorce even on grounds that she simply cannot stand her husband and to be dignified and trusted. In addition, women in Islamic society are entitled to be provided for by their husband for all their needs.

Another misconception is that the Egyptian army will never hand over power to a civilian President. Supporters of this myth remember the role of the military after the 1952 revolution till the January 25, 2011 revolution, where all Egyptian Presidents came from the army. Now the situation has changed completely and the role of the army is diminishing because of the much wider political participation and the development of political institutions, the spread of professional trade unions, the increased role played by businessmen, bureaucrats and civil society.

Moreover, the January 25 revolution proved that the military is no longer the guarantor of the regime. That is why the Egyptian military was keen to hand over power to the newly elected President smoothly and within the time agreed upon.

It goes without saying that the Egyptian army, which was founded in 1505, with its accumulated traditions, comes from the people and its main role is to defend the country against aggression and to protect legality, which reflects the will of the people.

Now, President Morsi faces so many challenges. He came to the presidency at a time of huge uncertainty, a sense of alienation and of loss, a diminished respect for state institutions and intense polarisation. That is why many Egyptians are looking up to him as the saviour they have long waited for to achieve their postponed dreams and to restore their dashed hopes.

Egyptians have already started counting his first 100 days in office and have appointed themselves monitors of his performance.

I personally believe that President Morsi will do his best to achieve the goals he set for himself during the first 100 days of his presidency because this only will enable him to mobilise people to achieve greater goals.

The author is the Ambassador of Egypt to Malta.