 | | He's 78 years old. I'll betcha he uses Grecian Formula... | Nine months before a referendum to choose Egypt's president, the state newspaper Al Ahram has announced the result on its front page — Hosni Mubarak will be re-elected for another six years. "President Mubarak will take the oath of office at this historic session (of parliament), signalling the start of a new presidential term," the paper said.
| Terry McAuliffe, eat your heart out. |
The story prejudged the roles that the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), parliament and the Egyptian people are supposed to play in deciding whether Mubarak, in power since 1981, should stay in office till 2011. Not so fast, say many Egyptians quietly and under their breaths, who more than at any time since Mubarak came to power are challenging the fundamentals of a system which gives them only a bit part in the drama. Prominent people have stepped forward to make a symbolic challenge to Mubarak and an unusual demonstration in central Cairo last month said no to any fifth term for the 76-year-old president or any transfer of power to his son Gamal. "The mood of the country is for change — a new atmosphere, new institutions, new leadership," said Mohamed El-Sayed Said, political analyst at Cairo's Al Ahram Centre.
In frank comments published in the newspaper Al Masry Al Youm at the New Year, politicians and activists took off their gloves and went straight for the jugular of a political elite which sometimes gives the impression their power is a privilege rather than a burden. "Egyptian public opinion and the political forces have had their fill and are ready for disobedience and to come out on the streets, as in Ukraine," said sociologist Saadeddin Ibrahim, one of three symbolic candidates for the presidency. But analysts say the dissidents have no chance of preventing the ruling party nominating Mubarak or stopping him from winning a one-candidate referendum in September.
| Be nice to see them try, wouldn't it? Our aid money might actually become useful. |
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