EGYPT:Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak asked parliament yesterday to amend the constitution to make it easier for opposition parties to field presidential candidates.
Mr Mubarak, in a letter to parliament, also proposed a formal ban on parties based on religion - a step which could enshrine in the constitution restrictions on the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition force.
Other changes would give more power to the prime minister and the parliament, diluting to some extent the vast powers the president enjoys under the present 1971 constitution.
"My view is that the political parties, during this period of time only, should be allowed to nominate candidates for these elections under easier conditions," said Mr Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt since 1981.
But he set out his ideas only in the broadest terms and until parliament fills in the details, the practical effect of the changes will remain difficult to judge.
Analysts and government critics have already dismissed the widely-anticipated proposals as cosmetic, saying the president would never ease his grip on power in reality. They also argue that decades of autocratic rule have left opposition parties too weak to muster any significant public support.
"On the political front the amendments are very marginal," said political analyst Mohammed el-Sayed Said. "Nothing changes the reality of the absolute and everlasting rule he enjoys."
Under a constitutional amendment approved last year, parties can field presidential candidates only if they have won 5 per cent of the seats in both houses of parliament. After last year's parliamentary elections, only Mr Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) meets that condition and, if presidential elections took place tomorrow, the NDP candidate would probably stand unopposed.
Opposition leaders say the arrangement is designed to ensure that Mr Mubarak's 42-year-old son Gamal would win the presidency if his father dies or retires in the next few years. Mr Mubarak and his son say he has no presidential ambitions.
Mr Mubarak did not mention the tough conditions on presidential campaigns by independent candidates - the only option open to the Muslim Brotherhood as long as the authorities refuse to let them form a party. - (Reuters)