It semes the winds of change are still ablowin', as they may have reached Egypt. Of course, it would be foolish to expect things based on what these people say, but the fact that they're saying it is itself a huge change.
Here's what the news story TigerHawk links says:
CAIRO, Egypt - In a surprise and dramatic reversal, President Hosni Mubarak took a first significant step Saturday toward democratic reform in the world's most populous Arab country, ordering the constitution changed to allow presidential challengers on the ballot this fall.
An open election has long been a demand of the opposition but was repeatedly rejected by the ruling party, with Mubarak only last month dismissing calls for reform as "futile."
The sudden shift was the first sign from the key U.S. ally that it was ready to participate in the democratic evolution in the Middle East, particularly historic elections in Iraq and the Palestinian territories. Mubarak's government has faced increasingly vocal opposition at home and growing friction with the United States over the lack of reform.
Unfortunately, the "reform" includes the measure that political candidates have to be approved by parliament, which of course Mubarak's party runs, so the article's choice of words is probably apt when it calls this a "cosmetic" change. But this still represents a huge change, and maybe they can be pushed further.
Read TigerHawk's post to find out what he thinks precipitated this change. Via Glenn.
Update: Roger Simon comments:
Of course, we should be skeptical, but that's the obvious. Hosni and his buddies were probably panicked about their aid checks. But more astonishing is the whirlwind-like power of this movement toward democracy. Even though elections in Egypt (still a big if, of course) would likely produce some form of Islamic government, it would at least be an elected one. Different patterns might emerge. The status quo was wretched, for the Egyptians and for everybody else in the region. Change, as they say in the I-Ching, is good. Let's see if it is real.
Update: Charles comments. Deacon at Power Line too.
Update: Captain's Quarters writes:
Once again, we see the transformative power of democracy and the fulfillment of the so-called "neocon" philosophy of security through democratization. Egypt has produced some of the most radical -- and dangerously Westernized -- terrorists of the past generation, including Ayman al-Zwahiri, al-Qaeda's number two under Osama bin Laden. With the ability to express political dissent through the ballot box instead of the bomb, Egypt's moves hold the promise of defusing one of the main intellectual producers of terror in the region,
Some will credit Mubarak himself, who defended and promoted the Palestinian elections of last month as a means to peace in Southwest Asia. However, without the pressure that the free elections of Iraq and Afghanistan provided, the peoples of the region would not have organized for their own opportunity for self-determination. Mubarak is smart enough to get ahead of the curve, while Bashar Assad and the Iranian mullahs sit uneasily in Damascus and Teheran hoping that the entire movement dies down before toppling them from power.
Saturday, February 26, 2005
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Thanks for the link. I hope you stop by again sometime!