Clubbing protesters "evidence of democracy"

The Egyptian government, and its (and our) use of the word democracy keeps getting more and more absurd. In this article, I particularly enjoyed the Mubarak's use of the third person in describing his "liberal" attitude toward the Muslim Brothers:

Speaking about himself, he said: "Mubarak, and no one else, has allowed their entrance into the parliament as the biggest opposition block, although he could have prohibited them if he wanted."

Very caveman.

I will also post the Prime Minister's comments on the Brothers, also from Sharm. Today is a big protest day here: the one year anniversary of the referendum that allowed for (practically meaningless) direct presidential elections.

By all accounts, the Brothers are acting as a responsible, active, but powerless opposition block in parliament here. But the regime is not comfortable with the amount of attention and power they are garnering, and no compromise solution is in sight.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1937656,00.html

Rallies 'evidence of democracy'
23/05/2006 09:12 - (SA)


Cairo - President Hosni Mubarak lashed out at coverage of Cairo street protests in which more than 600 Egyptians were beaten and arrested, calling the rallies "evidence of democracy" and coverage of them "libel and blasphemy".

Mubarak said: "Continuation (of the protests) is evidence of democracy", adding that he was surprised by some media coverage.

For the past three weeks, international media had shown footage of young activists being beaten in downtown Cairo in broad daylight by plainclothes police.

More than 600 people were arrested, mostly members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, but also secular pro-democracy activists.

US criticises Mubarak

Protesters were rallying in support of two reformist judges disciplined for blowing the whistle on electoral fraud. The United States openly criticised Mubarak's handling of the protests.

Mubarak accused his opponents, including some journalists, of having "mean intentions and wanting to achieve personal benefits" in their coverage of the protests.

He said: "Most of what they are writing could be punished according to the law, because it is libel and blasphemy", adding that he supported freedom of the press and thus had not cracked down on such coverage.

Mubarak said: "If they think that what they are doing is an expression of their freedom, they should remember who gave them this chance, and who is insisting on its continuity."

Brotherhood 'tolerated in Egypt'

Mubarak said that his policy towards the banned Muslim Brotherhood was unfairly characterised as harsh.

Speaking about himself, he said: "Mubarak, and no one else, has allowed their entrance into the parliament as the biggest opposition block, although he could have prohibited them if he wanted."

Outlawed since 1954, the Brotherhood was tolerated in Egypt within limits. Its candidates, fielded as independents, won 88 seats in the 454-member parliament in elections late last year.

Mubarak also said the success of the World Economic Forum, which ended on Monday in Sharm El-Sheik, was proof that the international community had faith in Egypt's economy.

He said: "We are on the right path."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/20/AR2006052000356_pf.html
Egyptian PM says not in hurry for political reform

By Jonathan Wright
Reuters
Saturday, May 20, 2006; 5:19 AM



SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - The Egyptian government is not in a hurry to change the country's political system, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said on Saturday.

"It doesn't take a month or two or six. It will take years... We have the time. We are not in a hurry," he told reporters before the opening of a World Economic Forum meeting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The Egyptian government changed the constitution last year to introduce the country's first multi-candidate presidential elections.

President Hosni Mubarak won a fifth six-year term in contested elections in September and the opposition says the government has since reverted to a repressive approach.

In recent weeks plainclothes security men have beaten and clubbed peaceful demonstrators protesting in solidarity with judges seeking judicial independence from the executive.

Nazif denied the government had taken any steps away from political liberalization but said it had to take into account Islamist successes in parliamentary elections.

The opposition Muslim Brotherhood won a fifth of the seats in the Egyptian parliament in November and December, confirming its position as the country's largest opposition group.

"Once the process starts, things happen. You see Islamists for example gaining in parliament here, in Palestine, in Iraq, so we start recalculating what's going on," he said.

"You need to recalculate, you need to revisit some of your assumptions, to make sure you are really on the right track but in the end I don't think there is any way to go back on this."

He played down the recent demonstrations in Cairo and other towns as the work of "special interest groups."

The Kefaya (Enough) Movement, for example, which opposed Mubarak's reelection and any attempt to arrange a succession for Mubarak's son Gamal, had 2,000 members, he said.

The prime minister said one of his economic priorities was to reorganize the system of subsidies, which cost the government 40 billion Egyptian pounds ($7 billion) a year for energy alone and are the biggest factor in a budget deficit running at about 9 percent of gross domestic product.

He said the strategy would be to target the poor with cash subsidies tied to the families sending their children to school and taking part in literacy and family planning programs. But he gave no timetable for changing the system.

Nazif said he was confident the Egyptian stock market could ride out the effect of sharp declines in Gulf markets.

"Their price/earning ratios are three times as much as ours so our market is still very attractive one and I think it will continue to be so," he said.

"The market has reacted very gracefully so far and I think with the kind of growth that we are seeing here in Egypt I'm not worried. The market is developing in a solid way," he added.