Egyptians get brush with democracy

Wednesday`s vote in Egypt is being hailed in some circles as a major democratic opening in the Arab world`s largest state. Indeed, it has cracked a rare window to criticize Mr. Mubarak`s 24-year rule. But it remains to be seen if the regime will be changed by this brush with presidential politics. Though the outcome was guaranteed, Mubarak and his team ran a Western-style campaign for the first time, even granting an interview to an independent newspaper.

"The concerns of the masses and the ordinary man in the street should be the main concern of any person in a position of leadership," President Mubarak told Al-Mesri Al-Yom newspaper, while reiterating a campaign promise to increase the minimum wage by 100 percent and to create 4.5 million new jobs. "I know exactly what the concerns of the people are, their problems, suffering, and expectations."

Mubarak`s record is shaky in many respects. Since he took power, Egypt`s national debt has more than tripled, the Egyptian pound has lost 88 percent of its value against the dollar, and unemployment is now estimated at 25 percent. Government corruption is also widespread. In August, the Al-Osboa newspaper published documents alleging to show that Ibrahim Nafie, who until July ran the government press group Al-Ahram and is also a close confidant of Mubarak, had stolen more than $100 million during his tenure. But there is also real support for the president. Many Egyptians remember the ruinous wars with Israel in 1967 and 1973, and are grateful that Mubarak has kept the country largely out of foreign entanglements.

                                 

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