Monday, December 13, 2004
Egyptians protest possible fifth term for president
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- About 1,000 people gathered downtown Sunday, many with their mouths covered by yellow stickers reading "Enough," to protest the possibility that President Hosni Mubarak might run for a fifth term or that his son, Gamal, might succeed him.
Later Sunday, hundreds of security forces surrounded the offices of Kamal Khalil, a veteran activist who spoke out against the Mubaraks at the protest. The police left four hours later, without arrests.
Mubarak, 76, has been president since 1981, when he replaced the assassinated Anwar Sadat. Mubarak's current six-year term ends in October 2005. He has not said whether he will run again.
Some participants said the largely silent protest -- held in front of Egypt's Supreme Judiciary Court -- was the first purely anti-Mubarak one since he came to power, and similar others were planned.
"Enough. No more extensions. No heredity. No succession," read one of the banners held by the protesters, who were cordoned off and outnumbered by riot police and senior police officials.
Khalil said he returned from the protest to find hundreds of riot police, at least eight police trucks and an armored car outside his Socialist Studies Center, where a seminar on change was being held.
Khalil, 55, was one of the few people who verbally protested at the demonstration.
"Leave, enough," he chanted, addressing Mubarak. "This silent protest is against inheriting the ruling regime by Gamal Mubarak and against Mubarak's fifth term."
It was unclear whether the surrounding of Khalil's office was related to his remarks at the protest.
"I'm not worried or afraid. This is a despotic and repressive country," Khalil said by telephone from inside the center.
The police, who kept most people from entering Khalil's office, withdrew after about four hours. No arrests were made.
The protest drew Islamists, nationalists, leftists and liberals. The Egyptian Movement for Change, a group of political parties and intellectuals, organized the protest to demand a constitutional change that would allow more than one presidential candidate.
"This is a historic protest," said Magdi Ahmed Hussein, a member of the Islamic political movement. "This is the first protest demanding ending his rule. The demonstration's meaning is bigger than its size. We've entered a new phase."
Over the past two years, participants at rallies of support for Palestinians and Iraqis have also chanted anti-Mubarak and anti-Gamal Mubarak slogans.
Outspoken feminist Nawal el-Saadawi, who recently announced she would run for president, welcomed the demonstration as a sign of Egyptians' discontent.
"I'm happy to see that at least 1,000 men and women have the courage to take it to the street to say no to heredity, no to extensions, no to dictatorship and repression," she said. "People have had enough. That's why I'm running for the presidency."
The controversial feminist and author admitted that her bid was impossible.
"I'll just be like a stone thrown in stagnant water, to stir it. I want my candidacy to cause debate, like my works, to pressure to change the constitution," said 73-year-old el-Saadawi.
Two other controversial figures have also recently announced their intention to compete in elections: Egyptian-American renowned sociologist and regime critic Saad Eddin Ibrahim, 66, and former opposition parliament member Mohammed Farid Hassanein.
However, there is no place for opposition presidential candidates under the current political system. Egypt holds presidential referendums, rather than elections, in which people vote "yes" or "no" for a sole candidate. Parliament has routinely rejected calls for more than one candidate to run for president.
There has been strong speculation in recent years that Mubarak's son Gamal, 41, is being groomed as his successor, though both men have denied this.
In September, Gamal Mubarak objected to the principle of family succession in a republican system of government. However, he had said the year before that although he won't nominate himself, he can't stop others from nominating him.
In October, more than 650 people -- Islamists, Communists and 30 lawmakers -- signed a petition demanding an amendment to Egypt's constitution that would limit a president to two terms. Mubarak has ruled out such an amendment.
On Sunday, the protesters dispersed peacefully within an hour, singing a revised version of the Egyptian national anthem: "My country, you still have oppression in politics and economics. You need revolution, my country."
The real lyrics are: "My country, you have my love and my heart."
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- About 1,000 people gathered downtown Sunday, many with their mouths covered by yellow stickers reading "Enough," to protest the possibility that President Hosni Mubarak might run for a fifth term or that his son, Gamal, might succeed him.
Later Sunday, hundreds of security forces surrounded the offices of Kamal Khalil, a veteran activist who spoke out against the Mubaraks at the protest. The police left four hours later, without arrests.
Mubarak, 76, has been president since 1981, when he replaced the assassinated Anwar Sadat. Mubarak's current six-year term ends in October 2005. He has not said whether he will run again.
Some participants said the largely silent protest -- held in front of Egypt's Supreme Judiciary Court -- was the first purely anti-Mubarak one since he came to power, and similar others were planned.
"Enough. No more extensions. No heredity. No succession," read one of the banners held by the protesters, who were cordoned off and outnumbered by riot police and senior police officials.
Khalil said he returned from the protest to find hundreds of riot police, at least eight police trucks and an armored car outside his Socialist Studies Center, where a seminar on change was being held.
Khalil, 55, was one of the few people who verbally protested at the demonstration.
"Leave, enough," he chanted, addressing Mubarak. "This silent protest is against inheriting the ruling regime by Gamal Mubarak and against Mubarak's fifth term."
It was unclear whether the surrounding of Khalil's office was related to his remarks at the protest.
"I'm not worried or afraid. This is a despotic and repressive country," Khalil said by telephone from inside the center.
The police, who kept most people from entering Khalil's office, withdrew after about four hours. No arrests were made.
The protest drew Islamists, nationalists, leftists and liberals. The Egyptian Movement for Change, a group of political parties and intellectuals, organized the protest to demand a constitutional change that would allow more than one presidential candidate.
"This is a historic protest," said Magdi Ahmed Hussein, a member of the Islamic political movement. "This is the first protest demanding ending his rule. The demonstration's meaning is bigger than its size. We've entered a new phase."
Over the past two years, participants at rallies of support for Palestinians and Iraqis have also chanted anti-Mubarak and anti-Gamal Mubarak slogans.
Outspoken feminist Nawal el-Saadawi, who recently announced she would run for president, welcomed the demonstration as a sign of Egyptians' discontent.
"I'm happy to see that at least 1,000 men and women have the courage to take it to the street to say no to heredity, no to extensions, no to dictatorship and repression," she said. "People have had enough. That's why I'm running for the presidency."
The controversial feminist and author admitted that her bid was impossible.
"I'll just be like a stone thrown in stagnant water, to stir it. I want my candidacy to cause debate, like my works, to pressure to change the constitution," said 73-year-old el-Saadawi.
Two other controversial figures have also recently announced their intention to compete in elections: Egyptian-American renowned sociologist and regime critic Saad Eddin Ibrahim, 66, and former opposition parliament member Mohammed Farid Hassanein.
However, there is no place for opposition presidential candidates under the current political system. Egypt holds presidential referendums, rather than elections, in which people vote "yes" or "no" for a sole candidate. Parliament has routinely rejected calls for more than one candidate to run for president.
There has been strong speculation in recent years that Mubarak's son Gamal, 41, is being groomed as his successor, though both men have denied this.
In September, Gamal Mubarak objected to the principle of family succession in a republican system of government. However, he had said the year before that although he won't nominate himself, he can't stop others from nominating him.
In October, more than 650 people -- Islamists, Communists and 30 lawmakers -- signed a petition demanding an amendment to Egypt's constitution that would limit a president to two terms. Mubarak has ruled out such an amendment.
On Sunday, the protesters dispersed peacefully within an hour, singing a revised version of the Egyptian national anthem: "My country, you still have oppression in politics and economics. You need revolution, my country."
The real lyrics are: "My country, you have my love and my heart."
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