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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (102286)	2/26/2005 9:11:32 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793843

I hope this way of sorting the info has some truth to it. We are getting too much good info the last few weeks. I will turn into "Pollyanna" is this keeps up. :>) Tigerhawk - The power of "displeasure" tigerhawk.blogspot.com Yesterday, the papers reported that Secretary of State Rice was not going to Egypt, as expected. The announcement bagged the Egyptian government, which has been waving its arms around and generally trying to look supportive of the United States in the Middle East: The decision not to go apparently caught Egypt off-guard. The country's major pro-government newspaper, Al-Ahram, reported Friday that Rice would be in Egypt next Saturday. Cloaked behind its usual diplo-deniability, we see that there was a reason: A senior U.S. official, citing Rice's displeasure with the arrest and other internal actions taken by the Egyptian government, said change was needed and she wanted to see what steps were taken before going to Cairo. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity. Today President Mubarak announced a new package of democratic reforms. The Associated Press's Maamoun Youssef: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday ordered a revision of the country's election laws and said multiple candidates could run in the nation's presidential elections, a scenario Mubarak hasn't faced since taking power in 1981. The surprise announcement, a response to critics' calls for political reform, comes shortly after historic elections in Iraq and the Palestinian territories, balloting that brought a taste of democracy to the region. It also comes amid a sharp dispute with the United States over Egypt's arrest of one of the strongest proponents of multi-candidate elections. "The election of a president will be through direct, secret balloting, giving the chance for political parties to run for the presidential elections and providing guarantees that allow more than one candidate for the people to choose among them with their own will," Mubarak said in an address broadcast live on Egyptian television. Even the activists, grudging as they are, see cause and effect. From the A.P.'s Nadia Abou El-Magd: Hafez Abu Saada, director of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, praised Mubarak's ``unexpected step,'' which he said reflected local, regional and international pressure. [Pressure from whom? - eds.] ``It is an important step that gives the Egyptian society a strong push for more freedom and democracy,'' he said. Activist Aida Seif el-Dawla was tentative in her praise. ``This concession is made to the United States of America. It is better for him (Mubarak) if this decision came as a result of the national dialogue with the opposition parties and in response to the protests against the law,'' she said. ``Let us wait and see, because a free campaign of more than one candidate requires more than a statement from the president.'' Of course it would have been better if Mubarak allowed democratic elections "as a result of [a] national dialogue..." But he didn't, did he? Talking democratic reforms and walking them are different matters entirely, but it is astonishing and wonderful that Hosni Mubarak thinks that he even has to talk them. Now the world has to work hard to see that Egypt actually delivers reasonably honest elections. The Big Pharoah should update his dream. David Brooks needs to update this morning's op-ed column already.