Campaign promises
Mubarak’s campaign promises in his campaign kickoff event last night at Al Azhar Park:
-Constitutional amendments that enshrine the liberites of the citizen, reinvigorate political parties, develop the institutional framework of our policies and the decision making process, and place restrictions on executive authority.
-Amendments to enhance parliament’s oversight, allowing it to hold the government accountable, empowering it to be involved in the budget process.
-Reforms to guarantee fair representation of women in parliament.
-Adopting an electoral system that guarantees the greatest chance for multi-party representation.
-Revising the Judicial Authority Law to reinforce the judiciary’s independence.
-Decentralize decision making, giving more authority to local government.
-Legislation to guarantee all citizens the right to basic due process and a fair and speedy trial.
-An anti-terror law to replace the emergency law.
-Revise system of administrative detention to reinforce the rule of law.
-Legislation that will guarantee citizens’ rights to the free flow of information.
-Further enhance the performance of public newspapers.
-Create over 4 million job opportunities in the next six years, through the largest investment program Egypt has ever witnessed.
-Increase availability of micro financing.
-Empower private sector to build 1000 factories in the next six years, and to provide 250,000 job opportunities.
-Reclaim one million feddans of desert land, thus providing an additional 70,000 jobs.
-Increase hotel capacity, creating an additional 200,000 jobs.
-Extend health insurance coverage to every citizen.
-3,500 new schools over next six years.
-80,000 government subsidized new homes per year.
-Provide squatter settlements water, electricity, sewage, and access to schools.
-Establish private mass transportation companies to develop road networks in Upper and Lower Egypt.
-Ease traffic in the capital by completing third metro line.
-Raise wage of low-income civil servants by 100%.
-Increase remaining civil servants’ wages by 75%.
-Guaranteed job contracts, health insurance, and social security to those working in the informal sector.
-Raise pensions.
-Child care for working mothers.
Categories: Egypt.
He’s off the deep end. There’s no way he could get even half of that stuff done. Those make the absurd promises of American campaigns look restrained.
Joe,
YES THE PROMISES ARE OVER THE TOP, BUT THE FACT THAT A PRESIDENT OF Egypt is making promises which he will be held accuntable to is new and promsing for the future lively-hood of the country.
MM
I agree MM, let’s just hope he is indeed held accountable. Surely he thinks he won’t be, otherwise he wouldn’t be making such grandiose pledges.
First, I’m not sure how we’ve arrived at the conclusion that he’ll be “held accountable.” This, to me, seems kind of spurious.
Second, the one thing that I note amid the list is that - unlike nearly every other country in the region where reform is being discussed (in Yemen, the chourus is deafening) - nearly every single reform entails a signficant outlay of government funds, with no plans to increase revenue.
So, I’m no political economist, but…perhaps we ought to be asking whose government will be paying for whatever small proportion of these reforms are implemented.
1,000 factories?
-Constitutional amendments that enshrine the liberites of the citizen, reinvigorate political parties, develop the institutional framework of our policies and the decision making process, and place restrictions on executive authority.
-Amendments to enhance parliament’s oversight, allowing it to hold the government accountable, empowering it to be involved in the budget process.
if they pass, of course. and if they don’t? why then, it’s democracy at work. at least they were proposed.
-Reforms to guarantee fair representation of women in parliament
fair representation… of women? of women’s issues? or actual, physical seats for women in parliament?
-Adopting an electoral system that guarantees the greatest chance for multi-party representation.
of course, these are chances that are being increased. this does not make any provisions for reducing the obstacles to establishing political parties or keeping them from being banned…
it goes on, of course. for each and every one.