Ayman Nour, the Egyptian opposition leader, speaks at a press conference in Cairo yesterday.
Ayman Nour, the Egyptian opposition leader, speaks at a press conference in Cairo yesterday.
Ayman Nour, the Egyptian opposition leader, speaks at a press conference in Cairo yesterday.
Ayman Nour, the Egyptian opposition leader, speaks at a press conference in Cairo yesterday.

Egypt opposition fights 'dynastic rule'


  • English
  • Arabic

CAIRO // With nationalist songs blaring from his law firm's downtown Cairo offices, opposition leader Ayman Nour announced the formation of the Egyptian Campaign Against Tawreeth, or inheritance of power, at a press conference on Wednesday that was attended by opposition groups from across the political spectrum.

Mr Nour, 44, called for the campaign against succession on the 28th anniversary of Hosni Mubarak's presidency, amid widespread speculation that Gamal Mubarak, the son of the president, will be handed power before the scheduled presidential elections in 2011. "When President Mubarak was sworn in as a president on October 14, 1981, exactly 28 years ago, the participation of his son in the rule wasn't part of the oath; there is no Gamal in the constitution," Mr Nour said, as he stood in front of about 30 founders of the campaign.

The drive is using the slogan "Ma Yohkomsh", a slang phrase that loosely means "he shouldn't rule". "We are against being inherited like slaves under any name," the group wrote on its Facebook page. "Because we love Egypt, we are against it going back to being a family farm to be inherited by a person who is lacking political capabilities ... [whose main] qualification is that he just happens to be the president's son."

Three legislators from the Muslim Brotherhood movement also attended the press conference. The organisation is the strongest and largest opposition group in Egypt, although it is officially banned. Members of the Kefaya, or "Enough", political group also attended and are participating in Mr Nour's new campaign, apart from prominent leftists and intellectuals. Kefaya was the first group to protest against the succession of power and Mr Mubarak's rule in 2004.

In 28 years of his presidency, Mr Mubarak has never appointed a vice president, and speculation has been rife that his son would replace him after Gamal returned to Egypt seven years ago from London, where he was working as a banker. Presidential elections are scheduled for 2011, but there are fears that Mr Mubarak might step down before then and pass the presidency to his son. In an online video forum in August, Gamal refused to answer questions about the possibility of inheriting power from his father.

Mr Nour was released from prison in February after being sentenced in December 2005 to five years in jail for forging documents to procure a licence for his political party. He denied the charges and said they were politically motivated. He claimed that he was framed because he represents a viable alternative to dynastic rule in Egypt. Mr Nour, however, finished a distant second to Mr Mubarak in Egypt's first ever presidential election, held in September 2005. Previously, he had been an outspoken critic of the government and served as a member of parliament for 10 years.

Mr Nour was released early for health reasons. According to Egyptian law, his conviction prevents him from holding a political post for five years. Mr Nour said he would contest the law in court. Since his release he has been touring Egypt in what he calls a "knocking on doors campaign" to reconnect with people after his release. "Over our dead bodies that Gamal would rule us," Abdel Halim Qandil, the co-ordinator of Kefaya, said. He suggested that opposition groups come up with an alternative leader "to put an end to the royal family that has been ruling Egypt for the past 30 years, and wants to rule us for another 40".

"We are facing a very critical and serious moment in Egypt's history," said Hassan Nafaa, a political scientist at Cairo University, who was chosen as the co-ordinator of the new anti-succession campaign. However, some doubt what such opposition conferences and alliances can actually achieve in light of their repeated inability to marshal enough public support to pose a serious challenge to Mr Mubarak's National Democratic Party and government.

"What's common among these fronts is that they are occasional and reproduce ideas that were expressed during political activities during the 2005 elections," said Nabil Abdel Fattah, a senior history researcher at the Al Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, a government think tank. "They are repetitive and contain the seeds of their own failure. Besides, some of the participants are not serious and join for personal motives or to be in the news.

Mohammed Abdel Qodos, an activist and member of the Muslim Brotherhood, said at the conference on Wednesday: "We have to acknowledge and learn from the negative aspects of the Egyptian national movement. "We can't rely on the same elite and the same faces we see every time; what we are lacking is reaching out to the man in the street. If we continue to work in our offices, and the campaign remains to be elitist, it will fail and won't achieve its goals."

nmagd@thenational.ae

Look north

BBC business reporters, like a new raft of government officials, are being removed from the national and international hub of London and surely the quality of their work must suffer.

Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

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Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

Our legal consultants

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

The specs

Price, base / as tested Dh960,000
Engine 3.9L twin-turbo V8 
Transmission Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Power 661hp @8,000rpm
Torque 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.4L / 100k

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From Zero

Artist: Linkin Park

Label: Warner Records

Number of tracks: 11

Rating: 4/5

The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
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Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
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Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

UK's plans to cut net migration

Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.

Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.

But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.

Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.

Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.

The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
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ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km

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Price: From Dh117,059

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
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The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

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Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

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The specs

Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel

Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

On sale: Now

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

MATCH INFO

Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)

TV: BeIN Sports

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

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