The Capital Times, September 26, 2005
Mubarak sweeps first contested Egyptian election
By Nadia Abou EI-Magd
Associated Press Writer
CAIRO, Egypt-- President
Hosni Mubarak swept Egypt's
first contested race for his job,
according to preliminary results
Thursday, an expected victory in
an election praised as progress
toward
democratic
reform despite
allegations of
The election
commission,
criticized as
controlled by
Mubarak's
government,
insisted
Wednesday's
success,
though
widespread
reports of irregularities, and voter
turnout was perhaps as low as
30 percent. The commission also
dismissed calls by the runner-up
for a repeat of the vote.
In office for 24 years, Mubarak
had been expected to win
Wednesday's election by a wide
margin. But his government has
insisted the important thing was
the process, saying the election
heralds more reforms in this key
U.S. ally, which has seen only
autocratic rule for 50 years.
Opponents dismissed the
ballot, skeptical that Mubarak will
give up his long unquestioned
power. Until now, the president
has been re-elected in "yes-no"
referendums in which he was the
only candidate.
Washington, eager for Mubarak
to conduct reforms but wary of
pressing too hard, showed its
approval.
U.S. State Department
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spokesman Sean McCormack
noted some "issues" in the
balloting, monitors allowed in only
at the last minute and campaign
ads present at some polling sites.
Still, he called it a "positive first
step."
"What we hope is that the
Egyptian government and the
Egyptian
people can
build upon...
the positive
actions in this
election asthey
look toward
parliamentary
elections in the
fall, and look
to addressing
some of those
that
President Hosni Mubarak
took 78-80
percent of the vote, according
to a preliminary count, an
election commission official
said, speaking on condition of
anonymity because he was not
authorized to announce results.
Final results were expected
Friday or Saturday.
His top opponent, Ayman
Nour of the opposition Al-Ghad
party, took 12 percent, a strong
showing for a relative unknown
and one that could make him a
more formidable political power.
The state newspaper reported
similar results in its Friday edition,
saying Mubarak had won with 80
percent and that Nour came in
second, though it did not give his
percentage.
Nour wrote to the elections
commission with a list of
alleged voting irregularities and
demanded a repeat of the vote,
citing the "grave violations that
issues
I mentioned
that were less
positive," he
said.
Mubarak
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... influenced the integrity of the
election process," his deputy,
Nagui el-Ghatrifi, told reporters.
Commission spokesman Osama
Attawiya said the commission
"examined the request," met with
Nour and in the end
rejected his appeal.
Attawiya said
the
commission
concluded that the
alleged violations
presented by Nour
"are not correct."
Many reform-minded
judges have accused
the commission of
being under the ruling
party's domination.
"There have been
no violations and
there are no doubts
in the election process," Attawiya
told a press conference. "There
is always the first step or the first
experiment followed by progress
in the next step. In Egypt, thank
God, we are making some
progress."
Egypt's newly elected President Hosni Mubarak shakes hands with President George W.
Bush after winning the election.
International News
Nour was not immediately
available for comment. His top
deputy, Wael Nawara, said the
candidate was disappointed
that the commission dismissed
reports of irregularities.
"What we hope is
that the Egyptian
government and
the Egyptian
people can build
upon ... the
positive actions
in this election...
-Sean McCormack
media
Throughout the campaign,
the media took pains to portray
Noaman Gomaa, leader of al-
Watd party, as the more serious
contender to the 77-year-old
Mubarak. Gomaa, 71, won
By Alexa Olesen
Associated Press Writer
BEIJING--China said
Thursday that six-nation talks
on dismantling North Korea's
nuclear program will resume next
week, even as Pyongyang raised
a possible obstacle to progress by
renewing calls for the withdrawal
of U.S. troops from the Korean
Peninsula.
China appealed to all sides to be
"flexible and practical" in seeking
a resolution to the long-running
dispute.
The latest round of discussions
involving the two Koreas, the
United States, China, Japan and
Russia recessed on Aug. 7 after
a failure to agree on a statement
of principles despite 13 days of
negotiations. The talks resume
Tuesday and will be open
ended, Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesman Qin Gang said at a
regular press briefing.
North Korean Premier Pak Pong
Ju said Pyongyang would seek a
"negotiated peaceful settlement"
to the issue, according to the
North's official Korean Central
News Agency.
Pak was also quoted as
saying the North would "exert
tireless efforts to realize the
denuclearization of the Korean
Peninsula," which was a "dying
wish" of Kim II Sung, the North
Korean leader who died in 1994.
U.S. State Department
spokesman Sean McCormack
said Thursday there was progress
at the last session and "we are
ready to stay as long as it takes
to get this done."
"We are still working on a
statement of principles to which
all parties can agree," he said.
A Japanese official expressed
optimism the six parties could
reach a settlement.
The 40-year
old lawmaker
came in
second
despite forgery
charges
against him
thathesaysthe
government
concocted
to wreck his
candidacy and
widespread
dismissal
of him by
government
N. Korea talks continue
between five and seven percent
of the vote, according to the
commission official.
A representative of Gomaa's
campaign, Cherif Abaza, said
it is still early to "say for sure if
elections were fair or if there was
rigging."
Ordinary voters, opposition
parties and some monitoring
groups reported widespread
pressure and incentives for people
to back Mubarak. For example,
ruling party officials were present
in some stations as people voted,
pro-Mubarak posters were rife at
polling stations, and tribal leaders
in some areas reported being
told by police to make sure their
followers backed the president.
Voter turnout was low. No final
figure was announced yet, but
the commission official put it at
around 30 percent of the country's
32 million registered voters.
If that figure is confirmed, it would
indicate that most Egyptians did
not have sufficient faith in the
electoral process to take part.
Photos courtousy of AP
"We hope there will be an
agreement on North Korea's
nuclear dismantling," said Chief
Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki
Hosoda. He also said Tokyo
would try to engage the North in
bilateral talks regarding Japanese
citizens who were kidnapped and
taken to North Korea in the 1970 s
and 1980 s.
A senior Russian diplomat also
was upbeat about the talks.
Deputy Foreign Minister
Alexander Alexeyev said most
aspects of the statement of
principles had been agreed upon.
"This means that the positions
of the parties have never been
closer," he said, according to the
Interfax news agency.
Alexeyev added, however,
that the United States and North
Korea remain divided on the key
issue of the scale and scope
of dismantling of Pyongyang's
nuclear program.
He also said Russia opposed
U.S. and Japanese proposals
to turn over the North Korean
nuclear arms issue to the U.N.
Security Council as well as any
changes in the current negotiation
format should the six-nation talks
fail again.
All six parties have declared
the Korean peninsula should
be free of nuclear weapons but
differences over whether North
Korea should be allowed a civilian
nuclear program brought the talks
to a halt in early August.
Washington says Pyongyang
shouldn't be allowed any nuclear
program, peaceful or otherwise,
because of its record of broken
promises.
Alexeyev insisted North Korea
has the right to receive foreign aid
in the development of its nuclear
program if it drops its atomic
See KOREA on 6
World
View
Osman Abdalla
By Osman Abdalla
Staff Reporter
oaalo6@psu.edu
Dear World View readers,
before I continue on with my
international awareness corner, I
would like to take a moment and
review our discussions last year.
We started by talking about the
diversity of the different cultures
in the world, hovered over
the different political systems,
and talked about the shrinking
resources and how in today's
real life, there is a huge lack of
prioritization. Instead of looking
at the population growth and the
decrease in the earth's carrying
capacity, people fight each other
over oil.
In one of last year's "windows"
(that is what I call this column),
I spoke about the need for
leaders with great morals
and wisdoms, not the kind of
leaders who pull us back by
their revitalization thoughts.
If progress is what matters,
then liberalism is the only
way toward progress. Life is
a collection of experiences.
Accordingly, the more different
one's experiences, the more
successful one can be. This
leaves us with one argument
against conservatism. There
is no need to repeat the same
ideology if it is not working.
None of today's leaders
seem to understand Gandhi's
Sarvodya (non-violent), who
seemed to appreciate Socrates'
skepticism. If divine guidance
is the only way, then why don't
we have any intact societies
anywhere in the world? In the
areas where massive religious
followers reside, one finds all
kind of vices.
In the absence of an
international entity to rule the
world, would one prefer the
ruler to be the stronger or an
anarchist? Is it true that all forms
of government do not suit all
forms of nations? What exactly
are all these international
organizations doing? What
is the future of the European
Union with respect to the United
Nations endeavors inside
Europe?
We also talked about the
environmental and economical
interconnection among the
nations in the world. This
interconnection is the only
factor that makes a person
who lives anywhere in the
world directly affected by an
international event. Why are gas
prices increasing in the United
State nowadays? Besides the
hurricane, is the death of King
Fahad playing a role in the
increase in prices in the States?
For the rest of this year,
I will be talking a lot about
this interconnection and its
effects everyone in the world,
regardless of nationality,
religion, and language.