The US House overwhelmingly adopted a harsh-worded resolution criticising Egypt's recent presidential and parliamentary elections. Khaled Dawoud reports from Washington While observers were convinced that US and Egyptian government officials had overcome the differences that arose during the recent controversial parliamentary elections, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly adopted a resolution on Monday harshly criticising the poll. The resolution, with the backing of 388 Representatives and 22 opposed, called upon President George Bush to take into account the need to achieve progress in the political process while determining "the type and level of assistance to be requested for the government of Egypt," as well as diplomatic relations. The resolution urged Bush to "speak with unmistakable clarity in expressing the disappointment of the United States with respect to the behaviour of the government of Egypt during the 2005 presidential and parliamentary elections." It also expressed "grave concern over the widely reported irregularities during the Egyptian presidential and parliamentary elections held respectively in November and December 2005, including interference by Egyptian security forces, and the apparent failure of the Egyptian government to ensure the elections were free, fair and transparent." However, the House "recognises the presidential elections held on 7 September 2005 as a potential first step towards greater political reform in Egypt." The resolution, which was adopted after a lengthy sleepless night at the House to approve last-minute controversial bills on budget and defence spending before breaking for the month- long Christmas holiday, called upon the Egyptian government "to hold those responsible for such violations accountable". It also asked Egypt's government "to separate the apparatus of the National Democratic Party from the operations of government, to divest all government holdings in Egyptian media, and to end the government's monopoly over printing and distribution of newspapers." Referring to concerns expressed by Egypt's opposition parties, Resolution 284 called upon President Hosni Mubarak's government to lift the 24-year- old emergency law while assuring that "any future anti-terrorism legislation would allow full peaceful, constitutional political activities." The House, which sent the resolution to the Senate for approval, also expressed "disappointment over Egypt's failure to ensure that the presidential elections were free, fair and transparent", and called upon it "not to use the strength of the Islamist opposition in Egypt to justify the failure of the Egyptian government to comply with its international human rights obligations or to undertake the reforms to which it has committed". An informed congressional aide told Al-Ahram Weekly it remains unclear whether the Senate, also due to adjourn for Christmas holidays tomorrow, would adopt a similar resolution. The 100- member Senate usually tones down resolutions forwarded by the House of Representatives, but it would continue to be an embarrassment for Egypt's government to have a similarly worded resolution adopted in the highest US legislative body. Florida's Democratic Representative and Chairman of the Sub-committee on the Middle East Ilena Ros-Lehtinen presented the House resolution. It was co- sponsored by 27 members, including Democratic California Rep Tom Lantos. Ros-Lehtinen and Lantos have been traditionally critical of Egypt's government and repeatedly called upon the White House to use the annual $2 billion military and economic aid it has given Egypt since 1979 to force changes in Egypt's policies, particularly in relation to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. They have recently increased their criticism of the government's human rights record, claiming that the lack of proper democracy in Egypt was the main reason that led to the rise of extremism. The tight schedule meant Ros- Lehtinen, Lantos and Republican Representative Darrel Issa were the only members to comment on the resolution and explained the reasons for adopting it. Ros-Lehtinen said, "we must send a clear message to the Egyptian leadership that such behaviour is unacceptable and that the concerns contained within this resolution need to be addressed if our bilateral relations are not to suffer." While noting that Egypt's recent presidential and parliamentary elections "were the most competitive elections Egypt has conducted in many decades, and, broadly speaking, I commend President Mubarak for that," Lantos said this evaluation "is rendered against a background of the decidedly non-competitive and unfree elections that have previously marked the quarter century of the Mubarak era." He noted, as in the preamble of the resolution, that as a result of violence that marked the second and third rounds of elections which concluded on 7 December, reports on police blocking voters from reaching polling stations, intimidation and attacks against judges and local monitors, banning the presence of international monitors and the alleged harassment of former MP and leader of the Ghad Party Ayman Nour, "it is hardly surprising that barely one-quarter of the Egyptian electorate even bothered to vote, a dismal participation rate which compares more unfavourably with the almost 70 per cent of the electorate voting in Iraq" on 15 December. Waving what is probably the hottest card likely to be used by Congress while pressing Egypt to carry out more political and economic reforms in the next few months, Lantos noted that the "administration is set to be seriously contemplating the opening of negotiations for a free trade agreement with Egypt next month. I think that would be a most regrettable step. It would be construed as a signal that the United States is satisfied with the state of Egypt's progress towards democratisation; and as I am confident the vote on this resolution will show, this body decidedly is not satisfied at all." Rep Issa opened his statement by affirming that he considered himself "a friend of Egypt". He added, however, that "while I believe Egypt deserves praise and recognition for the steps towards democracy it has made, I must also, as a friend, express some disappointment and concern about missed opportunities." Issa quoted a report issued by the US International Republican Institute (IRI) last week, based on the findings of a team of election experts who monitored the recent parliament elections which concluded, "the November 2005 parliamentary election process does not support the claim that Egypt is in a process of democratic transformation." However, Issa stressed that the same report pointed out to "several notable achievements when compared with elections in the past". He listed allowing the presence of domestic groups, the role of the Judges' Club in standing up to the government to assure fair elections and the growth of a more vibrant and open independent media, as some of those achievements. Issa added that IRI delegates who monitored the recent vote had spent time in Egypt in the late 1980s and early 1990s, "and noted that the public debate about political reform and criticism of the ruling party and the government would have been unthinkable 10 or 15 years ago. The relative freedom with which the state-run and independent press can debate these issues is an indicator of progress that should not go unmentioned." An informed source following Egypt- US relations told the Weekly that the Egyptian Embassy in Washington sought to persuade the administration to influence the House in order to tone down the resolution. "However, such efforts failed, and the administration said it would be difficult to oppose a resolution calling for more democracy in Egypt while it has been leading the call in this respect." The source noted that the resolution, even if adopted by the Senate, included no requests for immediate action or measures against Egypt's government in response to alleged violations that marked the parliamentary elections. On the official level, ties are apparently returning to normal because of the obvious need for Egypt's support to settle highly volatile issues such as the future of Iraq and resuming Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. US Vice- President Dick Cheney was to have visited Egypt yesterday, an indication of the high-level coordination between the two governments. However, Cheney decided at the last minute to postpone the visit, returning to Washington to take part in decisive voting in the Senate over the US budget. US officials at the State Department were generally satisfied with the progress that took place in Egypt's elections until the violence and clashes between police and voters escalated during the second and third rounds of balloting. State Department spokesmen then lashed out at the Egyptian government and said the violence raised questions over its commitment to holding free and fair elections. However, the overall evaluation remained generally positive. After the announcement of the final results of the elections two weeks ago, Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said, "what I think is clear is that an unprecedented number of representatives not affiliated with the government party have been elected to Egypt's parliament, and this really is historic. Why? Because it represents a broadening of the representation of opposition and independent candidates in the Egyptian parliament and we think that's going to have a substantial impact on political life in Egypt. And that's positive. That's a sign that pluralism and democracy have taken a step forward in Egypt." He added, however, "it's important to underscore that the process that led to this result remains flawed. There were numerous and widespread incidents of violence, harassment and intimidation, and that is of concern to us."
