According to al Hayat's coverage of Mubarak's latest speech, Egypt's new multiparty elections "are considered the beginning of real political reform in Egypt." They will not, however, include the Muslim Brotherhood. Mohamed Salah points out that Mubarak's dramatic decision kills two birds with one stone: it deflects foreign pressure on Egypt to begin real political reforms, while also clearing the way for his son Gamal Mubarak to come to power through elections and thus avoid any stigma which might have attached to his seeming to have inherited the office.
Then, there were these more or less simultaneous headlines:
Al Arabiya: "The Egyptian opposition doubts the suggested form of the Constitutional change... describes the format as emptying the change of its meaning and demands additional assurances."
Al Jazeera: "The Egyptian opposition welcomes the Constitutional change."
Glad that's cleared up.
PS, I read Issandr today too, and so should you.
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