Egypt lawmakers OK multicandidate vote
CAIRO -- Egypt's Parliament voted yesterday to change the constitution to allow contested presidential elections, dismissing opposition complaints that strict rules would still prevent genuine competition.
The amendment won the support of 405 of the 454 members of the People's Assembly, the lower house which alone has legislative power, speaker Fathi Sorour announced, easily securing the needed two-thirds majority.
Opposition members, a small minority, spoke against the text, saying it set impossible conditions for independents and would effectively stop even recognized parties fielding candidates after September's poll.
President Hosni Mubarak, 77 and in power since 1981, has not yet said if he will seek a fifth six-year term but is widely expected to stand and win.
Under the old system, in force since the 1950s, parliament chose a single presidential candidate, and Egyptians could only vote ''Yes" or ''No" in a referendum.
The amendment takes effect if approved by a referendum expected this month and after presidential endorsement.
The parliamentary vote was a foregone conclusion as Mubarak's National Democratic Party holds 90 percent of seats. The largest opposition group is 15 independents associated with the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.
Analysts and politicians say the constitutional amendment will have little effect, because Mubarak faces no serious rival with broad following.
Under pressure from the United States, foreign powers and also domestically, Mubarak surprised Egypt in February by proposing multicandidate presidential elections. He had previously refused to change a system that ensures incumbents stay in power indefinitely.
But his initiative has failed to quell protests demanding more radical reform, including an end to emergency laws in force since 1981.
The US State Department said it welcomed moves toward a more democratic Egypt but said it had yet to study the nitty-gritty of the constitutional change.
''I don't want to speculate without having had a chance to see the actual legislation and to see how this process unfolds," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.
