Posted on 02/26/2005 10:13:16 AM PST by aculeus
Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak has asked parliament to change the constitution to allow multiple candidates in presidential polls.
The surprise announcement followed US and domestic pressure for reform in the Arab world's most populous nation.
Mr Mubarak said the move was aimed at bringing the law "in line with this stage of our nation's history".
The proposal will be put to referendum before September's presidential poll.
Currently, Egypt holds presidential referendums on a single candidate approved by parliament.
Mr Mubarak's National Democratic Party has dominated the assembly since political parties were restored in the 1970s and he was expected to use the system to secure a fifth six-year term in September.
The US has been pressing for democratic reform in the Middle East, including in close allies such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Inside Egypt, there have been many calls recently by the opposition and civil society for political reform.
Opposition activists welcomed the announcement, though some were sceptical about President Mubarak's motives.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the influential but outlawed Islamic organisation, said it would consider putting up a candidate.
An official in the opposition Al-Wafd party, Mohamed Ulwan, said it was a historic step.
"For the first time since the days of the pharaohs, the Egyptian people will choose their ruler," he was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
But others were more cautious.
"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.
He said President Mubarak should not be allowed to stand again.
Guarantees
"This morning I have asked the parliament and the Shura Council to amend Article 76 of the constitution, which deals with the election of the president to discuss it and suggest the appropriate amendment to be in line with this stage of our nation's history," Mr Mubarak said in his speech, carried live on state television.
He said he wanted "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".
Until Saturday's surprise announcement, Mr Mubarak had ruled out constitutional change.
The government and opposition parties had only a few days ago agreed to postpone discussing the constitution until next year.
A meeting in Cairo of G8 and Arab foreign ministers was recently cancelled because it was expected to raise sensitive issues about reforms in Egypt.
But the president will now be able to silence his critics, says the BBC's Heba Saleh in Cairo.
She says it is unlikely that any candidate from an opposition party will be able to win against Mr Mubarak in the short term.
A feminist author and doctor, Nawal Saadawi, announced last year that she would stand for election - but at the time there seemed no way her candidacy could go forward.
Hosni Mubarak is Egypt's longest-serving ruler since Muhammad Ali in the early 19th Century and one of the longest-serving leaders in the Arab world.
He succeeded President Anwar Sadat, who was assassinated in 1981, and was re-elected in 1987, 1993 and 1999.
Published: 2005/02/26 17:20:09 GMT
© BBC MMV
maybe (probably) window-dressing, but I am not immune to hope.
I think he meant the same thing as "for the first time in all of Egypt's long history".
No. Usually installed by the priests and nobles.
Does Egypt elect their parliament?
The Shura Council consists of 258 members of whom one-third are appointed and two-thirds elected through direct public ballot. The term of Shura Council members is 6 years. There are mid-term elections for half the members.
So the leader automatically gets 1/3 of the vote, since they exist by appointment. He needs only 1/6 of the elected officials to stay in power.
And if that's right that he needs only 1/6 of the elected parliament's vote to stay in power, then adding multiple candidates is a weak reform.
Very weak. It is a step but no more then that.
Egypt has three times as many people as Iraq...if democracy does take root there, it would be a major development. Maybe Mubarak decided to quit while he was ahead. 24 years is nothing to be sneezed at, but there was no way he was going to top Ramesses II's record of 66 years and 2 months.
This is extremely good news if it actually happens. The arab tradition of one name on the ballot and calling it an election is a farce.
Agreed. And it'll be another feather in our cowboy's hat.
Events of the world are continuing to prove every day that George W. Bush is a drunken draft-dodging stupid inarticulate frat boy who never grew up and who has no vision for foreign policy and world affairs. The leftists were right all along. We should have listened to them and we would be all living in peace and harmony.
LOL!!
As with Reagan, the Left will say that Bush had nothing to do with this -- that the entire Middle East just spontaneously decided to enstate deomocratic government and give up on their WMD programs. LOL!
You are soooooooooooooooo easily led.
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