Campaign trails

As presidential elections inch closer, battlelines are being drawn, reports Mona El-Nahhas

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Boycotted by the country's major opposition parties, the Egyptian Campaign Against the Bequest of Power has begun collecting the signatures of public figures from across the political spectrum, beginning a petition that the group, which was formed last October, hopes will attract millions of ordinary Egyptians. Although reluctant to reveal the exact number of figures that have signed Hassan Nafaa, political analyst and the campaign's general coordinator, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the response has been "promising".

After getting the signatures of the political elite in Egypt, campaign members plan to head towards the public, collecting millions of their signatures in Egypt's different provinces.

"The drive to prevent the bequest of the presidency concerns all Egyptians," says Nafaa. The public, he argues, has been deprived of the right to choose its president via free and fair elections since 1952. "It's time for all Egyptians to say no, we will not be inherited any longer."

As well as seeking to prevent what they presume to be the office of the president passing from Hosni Mubarak to his son, Gamal, the campaign promotes a complete political and constitutional overhaul to allow for the peaceful rotation of power.

Gamal Mubarak, who has become increasingly influential in the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) over the last decade, now heads the NDP's powerful Policies Committee. Although both father and son deny that the presidency will be "inherited" the most common view is that Gamal, 45, is being groomed for office. President Mubarak has never appointed a vice-president and has not yet made public whether he will seek a sixth six-year term.

The campaign encompasses liberals, academics, legal experts, human rights activists and members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The liberal Democratic Front Party, the Egyptian Communist Party and the Islamist-leaning Wasat Party have all joined. The three main opposition parties, -- the Wafd, the Tagammu and the Nasserist -- however, have refrained from taking part in the campaign, accusing its members of seeking the media spotlight. The opposition -- ageing and fragmented -- usually prefers not to enter into direct confrontation with the state.

Like all political entities in Egypt, the campaign has seen clashes between its members. Abdel-Halim Qandil, a prominent member of the Kifaya movement, quit the campaign in protest against invitations sent to Ayman Nour, founder of the liberal Ghad Party and a key campaign member, from what Qandil termed "suspicious" US bodies. Nour replied the invitations came from non-governmental organisations which are not funded by the US administration, insisting that he has nothing to hide and noting that the invitations were submitted to both the prosecutor-general and all campaign members.

The dispute, says Nafaa, is settled. "Except for Qandil, the rest of Kifaya members are still campaign members," he said.

During a meeting last week, held at the headquarters of the liberal Ghad Party, the 41 members of the campaign's preparatory committee drafted a statement outlining their demands.

They called for all constitutional obstacles hindering independents from running in the presidential poll to be lifted, demanding amendments to articles 76, 77 and 88 of the constitution.

Article 76, which sets the nomination requirements for presidential candidates, has been severely criticised on the grounds that it effectively prevents independents from fielding themselves as candidates. Article 77, say campaign members, should be changed to limit the number of presidential terms to two. They also insist that full judicial supervision of both the presidential and parliamentary polls be reinstated.

The drafters have called upon whoever agrees with their demand to sign the petition via the Internet.

"The campaign's website will help acquaint the public without message, programme and goals," says Nafaa.

Other campaigns, revolving around the same goals, have been formed as the presidential race draws ever closer, including a campaign for free and fair polls, led by veteran judge Mahmoud El-Khodeiri, and one urging Mohamed El-Baradei, the former secretary-general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, to field run for president.