Egypt's Leader Moves to Delay Local Elections (extremists gaining power)

[Clarkie1]

CAIRO, Feb. 13 — President Hosni Mubarak has moved to postpone for two years local elections that were scheduled for April, turning away from a promise made during his recent presidential race to promote democratic practices, Egyptian analysts and political leaders said Monday. Thousands of local council positions were to be on the ballot.

The move, which raised some concerns in the American administration, was widely seen as an effort to preserve the governing National Democratic Party's monopoly on power at a time when its grip has begun to falter.

It was also seen as an effort to block the banned Muslim Brotherhood, which made unprecedented gains in recent parliamentary elections, from promoting an independent candidate for president in 2011.

<snip>

The Muslim Brotherhood cannot field a candidate for president in the party's name, even though it controls 88 of 454 seats in Parliament, enough to do so under the law. It is disallowed because it has been banned as a result of violent activities decades ago, and because it is a religious organization.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/international/africa/14egypt.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

So much for the "spread of Democracy"; seems to me all we are doing is fanning the flames of religious extremism...

[LiberalVoice]

1. Nothing unexpected.

Mubarak is guilty of as many crimes as Bush is, probably even more. Hes been at it alot longer.

[bemildred]

2. I didn't know you could just postpone elections like that.

That's even better than rigging them.

[Solon]

4. I'm sure Bush is taking notes. n/t

[IndianaGreen]

3. Fact: Mubarak is a dictator

In Mubarak's Egypt there is no free press, many political parties are banned, and torture is an art form.

A confluence of events are playing a role in Mubarak's declining fortunes: his close ties to Bush, the Islamophobic cartoons, the war in Iraq, the Palestinian situation.