After gaining overwhelming support in a March 2007 national
referendum, long-time Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak introduced
new constitutional amendments that effectively give more
power to the president and loosen controls on security forces.
Mubarak’s amendments constitute the latest move in a set of
orchestrated plans not only to entrench the stronghold of his own
National Democratic Party and pave the way for his son as his
successor but also to curb the power and ambition of his greatest
opposition – the Muslim Brotherhood. As he steps into his fifth
consecutive six-year term in office, Mubarak and his regime are
being met with harsh criticism as opposition groups, human rights
advocates, and Western governments urge for meaningful democratic
reform in the country. But promoting democracy is a complex
issue in Egypt, and indeed in much of the Arab world.
Mubarak and other leaders face the Islamist Dilemma, where any
move toward a more democracy-friendly political system threatens
to empower Islamic militants and open the floodgates for nonsecular
political parties.
