"Riforme in Egitto: la spinta sociale e le distorsioni di Washington"

Reforms in Egypt: social spurs and Washington’s distortions. Following the surprise announcement made by President Husni Mubarak on 26 February 2005 concerning the amendment of article 76 of the Constitution in order to allow multi-candidate presidential elections next September, most Egyptians read the event on the basis of domestic political developments, refusing the US theory on the so-called “domino effect” caused by the previous voting processes in Palestine and Iraq. Besides generally viewing recent regional facts quite differently from how many Western media do, Egyptian journalists and experts consider Mubarak’s decision as a result of the long struggle for constitutional reform and political freedom and rights that has been conducted for years in the country on behalf of several local activists and intellectuals. In particular, the campaign recently launched by the Egyptian Movement for Change, popularly called “Kifaya” (Enough), which was founded in August 2004, may well have contributed to the presidential initiative. Notably, the new organization was born on the wake of the huge demonstrations held in Cairo in spring 2003 against Bush’s war on Iraq.