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Sunday, November 12, 2000
President Hosni Mubarak said that democracy in Egypt is passing through a new stage of political action. Speaking to reporters after opening the new facility of Al-Tahrir Press and Publishing House, Information Minister Safwat el-Sherif quoted President Mubarak as saying that he endorsed judicial supervision over the election process after looking into several processes during the past years that would have affected the right to expression and guaranteeing the validity of votes. The President praised Al-Tahrir Press and Publishing House as a leading press establishment that Arabs and Egyptians could boast of. President Mubarak opened on Sunday a new facility built by Al-Tahrir House, which issues the Arabic Al-Gomhuria, English-language the Gazette, and French-language le Progres Egyptien. The state-of-the-art facility houses a technology club and is equipped to print 70,000 copies of an 80-page newspaper per hour. The establishment newspapers succeeded in achieving freedom of expression, wide circulation, objectivity, and honesty, the President was quoted by Sharif as saying. President Mubarak endorsed judicial supervision on parliamentary elections of year 2000 to open the doors for all society forces to guarantee fair elections in favour of the people and the society, then the Constitutional Court issued a pro-judicial-supervision law, Sharif said. The President realised the consequential burdens that the judges would shoulder as a result, but took into consideration that the judiciary system in Egypt is the basic foundation of justice and right, he added. President Mubarak was quoted as saying that the election process, under the judiciary supervision, was peaceful and successful. The President was satisfied with the success of this unique experiment. Mubarak voiced his appreciation to the judges, who shouldered their responsibility and lived up to expectations, drawing a landmark in the political and party life in Egypt. What happened is undoubtedly a leap forward on the road of democratic practice, evident in the participation of Egyptian citizens in decision-making and voting, the President pointed out. President Mubarak was sure that the coming elections would see more participation after the citizens were confident of their fairness. President Mubarak said that the 2000 elections should be assessed because they produced negative as well as positive results. He called on all political parties and institutions to assess their performance in a bid to work out an approach that could deal with changes in the society. The society does not give its vote except to the qualified candidate, who works, gives, and produces, he added. Both the society and parties will play a role in upgrading the political life. The President said party affiliation is still weak and that in spite of the fact that parties have been permitted 23 years ago, the matter still needs an assessment by all opinions before we make firm judgments. But in spite of all negative aspects of the election process, the elections will remain the best political practice in our democratic life. Information Minister said that President Mubarak believes that each political party should have more than one nominee in a bid to further dialogue. The President called on all parties to form taskforces to study the best ways to run in elections, including the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), in a bid to reach the best approaches for political practice in the future. " The President said he seeks the best formulae to lay the foundations for the future, denying that he is working for a particular purpose. The goal is the interest of the nation", he said. Answering a query, in an open dialogue with writers and journalists, on the President’s assessment to relations with the US, EU and Arab countries, President Mubarak said that Egypt is keen on establishing strong relations with all countries, Arab, European, or American. "Egypt takes into consideration the supreme interest of the nation and its steps are very well calculated", he added. "Any decision reflects on the future of the nation, and such decision should stem out of opinion exchange between experts and officials", the president said, adding that, first of all, such decisions have to protect the dignity of the country and of the people. "In year 1952, Egypt’s population hit 19 million and, now, it is about 65 million, something that means that the responsibility is larger, deeper, and touches on the lives of millions of citizens", he said. On Egypt-US relations, the President described them as good. "Both countries have joint interests, and our decisions take into account the Egyptian dignity and interests. Difference in opinion does not mean severing relations, we have our positions and we adhere to them because, in any case, there are points of agreement and disagreement", he said. "Egypt has a logic respected by everybody", he added. On the recent Pan-Arab summit, President Mubarak said the summit should have convened during the holy months of Ramadan late in November, but the deteriorating conditions in the Palestinian lands made its convocation a necessity. The most important resolution the summit was to issue is a decision on its periodical convocation because this will realise closing Arab ranks and ironing out differences, so that they do not build up. The coming summit will convene in march, giving another chance to close the Arab rank and settle disparities. The President said that the resolutions, reached by the summit, are the best that could have ever been taken, and they have to be implemented regardless of some media voices that seek driving a wedge between Arab countries. President Mubarak said it is a mistake to compete in a media race meant to divide Arabs or dismantling the Arab nation. Egypt is far above that, its role commands esteem by all Arabs, and no one could ever harm it. Egypt had been at war since 1948 until it achieved victory in 1973, giving away more than 120,000 martyrs and hundreds of thousands of disabled, widows, and orphans. "Egypt has also given LE 100 billion of its funds throughout that period", the President said. Answering a query on the role of the press, President Mubarak said this role is indispensable in a democratic regime and it is tantamount to go on with the march of reform. And on the role of political parties in the society, the President believes that recent political events would help upgrade political and democratic performance, the election results will push everybody to work, assess its performance and change its performance to redress discrepancies. The President anticipated that the political parties would start modifying their approaches to live up to the society’s expectations. Asked whether a cabinet reshuffle will follow the People’s Assembly elections, President Mubarak said the elections has no relation with reshuffling the cabinet, which is a process, modified by the constitution and is linked to the presidency and not the parliamentary elections. On the hope that the Palestinian crisis be solved, President Mubarak said the situation is very complicated. Egypt stands by the Palestinian right as it did support and will still support the Palestinians until they regain their legitimate rights. President Mubarak said the Sharm el-Sheikh summit is a response to the Palestinian position that it may come with solutions to the deteriorating situation in the Palestinian territories. Egypt did not want to exercise any pressure on its part. The Palestinians were asked by the President to set the agenda of the summit and he was ready to postpone it once the parties did not agree on the Palestinian-tabled agenda. President Mubarak said that his statement at the close of the summit made the Israelis angry, but he supported the rights of Palestinian and did not hesitate. " The summit was in the interest of the Palestinians and in the Pan-Arab summit, which followed it", he said, adding that Peres-Arafat talks, aimed at implementing the summit’s resolutions. We are working hard and evaluating the situation on a daily basis. Answering a query on the fund set to support the Palestinian Intifada, the President said that a panel by Arab finance ministers is following up the issue.As regards donations of Egyptian citizens, it would be voluntary. As a state, Egypt is providing a lot of services, he said. On the suffering of the Iraqi people, President Mubarak said that the issue was not raised at the emergency Pan-Arab summit because everybody wanted the summit to exclusively address the issue of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Intifada. "We will continue to do our utmost to lift the ten-year embargo, imposed on the Iraqi people", he said. Answering a query on the leaders of Egypt, the President said all the Egyptian leaders, late Presidents Gamal abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat, were devoted nationalists and each one of them contributed positively to the nation. |
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