AP: Egypt's Election Amendment

Egypt's Upper House OKs Election Amendment

By PAKINAM AMER,
Associated Press Writer

Sunday, May 8, 2005
(05-08) 14:25 PDT CAIRO, Egypt (AP) --

Egypt's upper house of parliament on Sunday approved guidelines to regulate the first multi-candidate presidential elections but opposition figures criticized the rules, saying they aimed to exclude real competitors to President Hosni Mubarak.
Elsewhere in the Egyptian capital, supporters of Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood, some raising Qurans, held a protest demanding political reform and the release of hundreds of the Islamist movement's supporters detained in a crackdown last week.
"Where is freedom? Security stands in the way," the protesters chanted. "The Muslim Brothers are imprisoned because of religion," others claimed.
A catalyst for the demonstrators has been Mubarak's surprise call for the multi-candidate elections to be held for the first time in September. Mubarak, 77, hasn't announced whether he will run for a fifth term, but is widely expected to do so. The president has said no religious-oriented political parties will be allowed to compete.
The suggested constitutional amendment was approved by 241 of the 264-member advisory Shura Council in a vote called "historic" by Speaker Safwat el-Sherif, according to the Middle East News Agency.
The guidelines must now be approved by the lower house, which will review them Tuesday. They will later be put to a public referendum for final approval before September.
Previously, Egyptians cast only a "yes" or "no" vote on a sole candidate nominated by parliament every six years.
"The roots of a new culture are taking hold in the soil of our country, its fruits are awaiting the spring for the democracy flowers to blossom," el-Sherif said. "These are historic and decisive moments in the life of our nation."
The guidelines stipulate that a presidential candidate must either be a member of an official political party or, if running as an independent, get a minimum of 65 recommendations from elected members of the lower house, 25 from the Shura council and 10 from local councils from at least 14 governorates.
The regulations were seen by opposition as putting a gag on serious contenders, as all the elected bodies are dominated by Mubarak's ruling party and its supporters.
"These regulations are utterly disappointing, totally undemocratic," said Hamdeen Sabahi, an independent lawmaker in the lower house. "We will not witness real elections but a crude soap-opera."
Sabahi, who had previously indicated he may run for president, said the new rules deny him the chance. Sabahi has been trying to form a party but it has been rejected by the government-dominated political party committee.
Only "weak" political parties will have the chance to select a candidate, he said, pointing that most Egyptians don't have much faith in political parties and are not members of one.
"Anyone who will run now will be a collaborator with the ruling party in their fraud, against the will of the people," he said. "We all — voters and candidates — should boycott the elections."
The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest Islamic group, which has been demanding political reforms, says police detained more than 2,000 of its supporters during nationwide protests Wednesday and Friday.
Police said they have arrested only 750, including four leading members, and have ordered 617 of those detained for an additional 15 days without charge for further investigations.
The Brotherhood, banned since 1954, renounced violence years ago. But its leader told reporters at a news conference Sunday that it will keep staging protests to demand political reform from Mubarak's government.
"We are reaching out to oppressed Egyptians who reject the oppressive way in which they are being ruled," Mohammed Mahdi Akef said.
Akef, 77, addressed the media while standing beside large photographs of three Brotherhood members who died during previous protests or in police custody.
"I'm not looking for a clash, not calling for a fight," Akef said. "The ruling elite wants a clash because they don't want any voice to be raised, including ours. We want nothing but freedom, if freedom is absent, everything else is."
Mubarak has been president since 1981, running unopposed for four six-year terms, making him Egypt's longest ruler. His surprise decision was welcomed by most in Egypt, but many feared the suggested amendments will only serve to legitimize his rule. Opposition parties say the short notice before the first-ever elections give them little time to campaign and prepare.
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Associated Press writers Sarah El Deeb and Nadia Abou El-Magd contributed to this report