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About Time...

We give about $USD two billion/year in aid to Egypt. I never gave too much thought to their government but this report from the BBC is a bit of an eye-opener:

Analysis: Re-birth of Egyptian politics
Egyptians will go to the polls on Wednesday to vote in their country's first ever contested presidential election.

Ten candidates are running for president, but it is the incumbent, Hosni Mubarak, who is expected to win.

Critics of Mr Mubarak, who has led Egypt for 24 years, charge that the election is a charade aimed at deflecting American pressure for reform.

But even if, as many believe, the results are a foregone conclusion, there is no mistaking the energy that preparations for the poll have injected in Egypt's long-stagnant political life.

For civil society in particular, the run up to the election has presented an opportunity to press for genuine reforms.

New and old civil groups have been trying to push at the rigid boundaries which have stifled politics causing Egyptians to lose faith in the possibility of democratic change.

Democratic elections with only one presidential candidate? Now there are ten but only one is expected to "win" Is Jimmy Carter flying there to 'certify' this election too? Posted by DaveH at September 5, 2005 10:23 PM