By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD The Associated Press Tuesday, October 31, 2006; 3:39 AM
CAIRO, Egypt -- Egypt will amend its constitution to make it easier for candidates to run for president, part of long-delayed political reforms that President Hosni Mubarak plans to carry out next year, the parliament speaker said.
The reforms would include changes to an article that had been criticized as opening the way for Mubarak's son to succeed him, Parliament Speaker Fathi Sorour told the official Middle East News Agency on Monday.
Presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad also noted a change was likely, saying in a statement that Mubarak "won't oppose considering an amendment to article 76 in order to increase the chances of (political) parties to participate in presidential elections."
But opposition figures said they feared the announced reform was merely cosmetic and only geared at winning public support ahead of the next presidential election, due in 2011.
"The new proposed amendment is still part of scenario of (Mubarak's son) inheriting power," said Hesham el-Bastawisy, a High Court judge and vocal government critic.
Opponents say the ruling National Democratic Party will do nothing to bring real change to the country's political scene, which has been dominated by Mubarak since he became president following Anwar Sadat's assassination in October 1981.
The United States has called greater democracy in the Middle East a top priority, and at one time wanted its ally Egypt to be the centerpiece of reform. But critics say the Bush administration has recently backed off pressuring Cairo _ more concerned with the region's numerous crises, including the war in Iraq and Iran's nuclear ambitions, than pushing to loosen Mubarak's 25-year authoritarian rule.
The article Sorour said would be amended was rewritten last year to allow multi-candidate presidential elections. But the opposition contends it was deliberately made impossible for anyone to compete against the ruling party in the next presidential election.
It requires that independent candidates obtain 250 recommendations from members of parliament or city councils before they can enter the race. Because most political offices are held by Mubarak's NDP, opposition parties fear they won't be able to field any presidential candidates.
The article also rules that only political parties representing at least 5 percent of parliament can put forward a presidential candidate. No opposition party achieved this in last year's legislative elections.
The ruling party has previously refused to amend the article, which the opposition said demonstrated that Mubarak was planning to clear the path for his son, Gamal, to take power.
Gamal Mubarak, 42, has risen rapidly through the ranks of his father's party in recent years and is now deputy secretary general. Hosni Mubarak, 78, has also never appointed a vice president, saying he has not found someone suitable and is not required to by the constitution.
Both father and son deny a transfer of power is in the works, but Gamal's supporters regularly call him ideal for the job.
The head of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's main opposition force, said he didn't expect the constitutional change to make it easier for his group to field a presidential candidate. The group remains technically illegal in Egypt, but has 88 lawmakers in parliament serving as independents.
"The real competition is between the independents, who are mainly the Brotherhood, and the NDP, not between authorized political parties and the ruling party," Mohammed Saad el-Katatny told The Associated Press.
Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said earlier this year the government was studying measures to ban independents and outlawed groups from running in any election.
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