Egyptian leader sees no opposition to Mubarak

CAIRO — Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif yesterday downplayed any notion that his nation’s coming presidential election will be a hotly contested, Western-style campaign and said President Hosni Mubarak will be easily re-elected if, as expected, he decides to run.

In an interview in the ornate former palace where he has his offices, the prime minister sought to dampen rising expectations in the Western media about the September election, the first contested presidential race here in more than 50 years. He suggested that the opposition will not be prepared to run serious candidates until 2011 at the earliest.

However, this year will mark the beginning of a “revolution” in Egypt’s transition to a multiparty democracy, said Mr. Nazif, 52, who during 10 months in office has attracted Western notice for instituting major economic reforms, including deep income-tax cuts.

“I would like to see the political parties start developing themselves to present serious, viable candidates who can with time become political leaders of their own,” he said.

Mr. Nazif, who is going to Washington in two weeks to meet with President Bush and other U.S. officials, said he expects democratic institutions to develop over the next several elections.

Parliamentary balloting shortly after this year’s presidential contest will start the ball rolling, with opposition parties increasing their representation relative to the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).

Over the five years until the following parliamentary elections, opposition parties will have the opportunity to develop credible national candidates for the presidential contest in 2011.

“Just before the [2011] presidential election you have another parliament election, which would be a very good test of whether they have succeeded or not,” Mr. Nazif said.

“We haven’t seen those political parties yet develop enough younger generation [leaders], and I think this is their main challenge. This is what they need to work on for 2011,” he said.

Mr. Mubarak, by contrast, brought in several new and younger ministers in a government shake-up in July that included his own appointment, Mr. Nazif said.

According to the prime minister, Egypt’s timetable for transforming itself from single-party rule to a multiparty democracy has been communicated to the Bush administration “in more than one way.”

“We are getting excellent, positive responses from the administration, encouraging us and saying to us, ‘You are doing a good job, both on the economic and on the political side,’” he said.

But he acknowledged that “there has been a little turbulence the last few months because of Ayman Nour,” the one announced candidate who plans to challenge Mr. Mubarak this fall.

Mr. Nour was released on bail in March after spending more than a month in prison on charges of forging signatures on a petition seeking official recognition for his new party, Al Ghad, or the Future Party. His imprisonment prompted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to skip a planned visit to Egypt in March.

The arrest, Mr. Nazif said yesterday, was “an unfortunate event. I would have preferred that it had not happened in the first place.” But, he said, “It is not a political prosecution.”

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