Post by Bozur on Feb 26, 2005 19:32:57 GMT -5
Egypt Seeks Multi-Candidate Presidential Race
Sat Feb 26, 2005 06:29 PM ET
Egypt's Mubarak Orders Reform
MORE
By Edmund Blair
CAIRO (Reuters) - President Hosni Mubarak opened the door on Saturday to multi-candidate presidential polls in Egypt, a dramatic move welcomed by Washington and opposition groups as a step toward more open government.
Analysts described his televised announcement, heralding the first contested polls since the 1952 fall of the monarchy, as a response to both U.S. reform calls and an increasingly vocal domestic opposition, emboldened by Washington. Cairo is uneasy about U.S. campaigning for democratic change in the region.
Mubarak, 76, said he had proposed parliament change the constitution "to give the opportunity to political parties to enter the presidential elections and provide guarantees that allow more than one candidate to be put forward to the presidency for people to choose among them freely."
State Department spokesman Steven Pike welcomed the development, which came a day after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice postponed a visit to Egypt.
"As a friend of the Egyptian government and people, we've urged Egypt to broaden the base of political participation," Pike said. "This appears to be a step in the direction of a more open political system."
Under Egypt's existing system, parliament, dominated by Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), has to approve a sole candidate, who then must be approved in a public vote.
The next presidential vote is due in September.
"I took the reins of this initiative in order to start a new era ... on the way of reform," Mubarak, who has ruled since 1981, told a gathering in the Nile Delta, north of Cairo.
Although an economic reform program was launched with a new cabinet in July, there has been little movement on the political front until now.
Parliament met on Saturday to discuss the proposed change. Parliament speaker Fathi Sorour said the constitutional change would "enable any person to be nominated for the position of president under certain conditions."
He was quoted by the official Middle East News Agency as saying parties could make nominations and independent candidates would need the backing of a number of members of parliament and local councils, but he did not say how many.
EGYPT UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
Egypt has also come under the spotlight for the detention in January of Ayman Nour, the leader of the opposition Ghad (Tomorrow) party. Rice expressed Washington's "very strong concerns" and said she wanted the case resolved swiftly.
Egypt says the Nour case is a judicial matter.
Nour, who went on hunger strike on Tuesday, ended his protest on Saturday after Mubarak's announcement.
His wife, Gamila Ismail, said Nour described the move as "an important step toward the party's and the Egyptian people's demand for extensive constitutional reform."
The Muslim Brotherhood, which is officially banned in Egypt, welcomed the move as "a positive step on the way of sought after political reform." But it also called for other reforms, such as more freedom to set up parties or launch newspapers.
"What the president proposed today is a just a crack in the wall ... This step is not enough," said Abdel-Halim Qandil, editor of an opposition newspaper and a campaigner for reform, adding that Mubarak should not be allowed to stand again.
Mubarak is serving his fourth six-year term and is widely expected to run for a fifth term, although he has not announced his intentions.
"This is a historic step. For the first time since the days of the pharaohs, the Egyptian people will choose their ruler," said Mohamed Ulwan, assistant head of the opposition Al-Wafd party. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Wright)
Sat Feb 26, 2005 06:29 PM ET
Egypt's Mubarak Orders Reform
MORE
By Edmund Blair
CAIRO (Reuters) - President Hosni Mubarak opened the door on Saturday to multi-candidate presidential polls in Egypt, a dramatic move welcomed by Washington and opposition groups as a step toward more open government.
Analysts described his televised announcement, heralding the first contested polls since the 1952 fall of the monarchy, as a response to both U.S. reform calls and an increasingly vocal domestic opposition, emboldened by Washington. Cairo is uneasy about U.S. campaigning for democratic change in the region.
Mubarak, 76, said he had proposed parliament change the constitution "to give the opportunity to political parties to enter the presidential elections and provide guarantees that allow more than one candidate to be put forward to the presidency for people to choose among them freely."
State Department spokesman Steven Pike welcomed the development, which came a day after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice postponed a visit to Egypt.
"As a friend of the Egyptian government and people, we've urged Egypt to broaden the base of political participation," Pike said. "This appears to be a step in the direction of a more open political system."
Under Egypt's existing system, parliament, dominated by Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), has to approve a sole candidate, who then must be approved in a public vote.
The next presidential vote is due in September.
"I took the reins of this initiative in order to start a new era ... on the way of reform," Mubarak, who has ruled since 1981, told a gathering in the Nile Delta, north of Cairo.
Although an economic reform program was launched with a new cabinet in July, there has been little movement on the political front until now.
Parliament met on Saturday to discuss the proposed change. Parliament speaker Fathi Sorour said the constitutional change would "enable any person to be nominated for the position of president under certain conditions."
He was quoted by the official Middle East News Agency as saying parties could make nominations and independent candidates would need the backing of a number of members of parliament and local councils, but he did not say how many.
EGYPT UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
Egypt has also come under the spotlight for the detention in January of Ayman Nour, the leader of the opposition Ghad (Tomorrow) party. Rice expressed Washington's "very strong concerns" and said she wanted the case resolved swiftly.
Egypt says the Nour case is a judicial matter.
Nour, who went on hunger strike on Tuesday, ended his protest on Saturday after Mubarak's announcement.
His wife, Gamila Ismail, said Nour described the move as "an important step toward the party's and the Egyptian people's demand for extensive constitutional reform."
The Muslim Brotherhood, which is officially banned in Egypt, welcomed the move as "a positive step on the way of sought after political reform." But it also called for other reforms, such as more freedom to set up parties or launch newspapers.
"What the president proposed today is a just a crack in the wall ... This step is not enough," said Abdel-Halim Qandil, editor of an opposition newspaper and a campaigner for reform, adding that Mubarak should not be allowed to stand again.
Mubarak is serving his fourth six-year term and is widely expected to run for a fifth term, although he has not announced his intentions.
"This is a historic step. For the first time since the days of the pharaohs, the Egyptian people will choose their ruler," said Mohamed Ulwan, assistant head of the opposition Al-Wafd party. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Wright)