Thursday, Jun 16, 2005
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Simon Tisdall
SPREADING THE MESSAGE: An Egyptian volunteer stands on a vehicle, sporting posters of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and calls upon people to vote for him, in this recent photo.. — PHOTO: AP
CAIRO: Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak is to seek a fifth consecutive term in office and will appoint a Vice-President for the first time in his 24-year reign if, as is expected, he wins the first ever contested presidential election in September. Ending months of speculation, the President's spokesman, Soliman Awaad, told the London-based Guardian newspaper that Mr. Mubarak (77) would announce his candidacy as soon as the constitutional court approved a new electoral law. ``This will be Mubarak's last term,'' Mr. Awaad said. ``He wants a free, democratic and fair election. He wants to be remembered as the one who did this. ``He will appoint a Vice-President. Certainly he will do this,'' Mr. Awaad said. ``These changes will be his legacy.'' A senior official who asked not be identified said that the Vice-President, who will inevitably be seen as Mr. Mubarak's potential successor, would be a civilian rather than a member of the armed forces.
Military figures
The official said Mr. Mubarak wanted to reduce the involvement of military figures in public life that dates back to Gamel Abd el-Nasser's 1952 revolution, when the monarchy was overthrown by a military coup. The identity of Mr. Mubarak's choice as Vice-President will be a matter of intense interest in Egypt, the Arab world's leading country, and in the U.S., which provides Egypt with $ 1.8 billion a year in aid and has been urging democratic reform. Interviewed this week at the Air Force Club in Cairo, Gamal Mubarak, Mr. Mubarak's son and a leading figure in the ruling National Democratic party, repeated assertions that he was not seeking higher office. The insistence on a civilian appointee appears to rule out Egypt's powerful security and intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, a former army general who has been tipped as a future President. It was unclear how military chiefs might react to an unprecedented attempt to reduce the armed forces' influence. Opposition parties remain sceptical about the President's intentions and the new electoral system. - Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
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