Egypt: In Search of a Strategy for reforming Egypt

Egypt's first multi-candidate presidential election, a response to U.S. pressure, was a false start for reform, says the International Crisis Group. "Formal pluralism has never seriously limited the dominance of President Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP); extension to the presidential level is a token so long as the opposition is too weak to produce plausible candidates. If the further reforms Mubarak has promised are to be meaningful, they should be aimed at recasting state/NDP relations and, above all, enhancing parliament's powers."