OSAMA EL-BAZ, President Hosni Mubarak's senior political adviser, stunned political observers on Monday by announcing that the election of a vice president was currently being studied. "The study," El-Baz told a youth gathering in Suez, "will investigate the idea of electing a vice president who should be in harmony with the president in achieving the nation's highest interests." The idea, El- Baz said, came after President Mubarak's 26 February proposal to amend Article 76 of the constitution to allow more than one candidate to run in presidential elections later this year. Mubarak has not appointed a vice president since taking office in 1981. According to El-Baz, Mubarak's new constitutional proposal was the result of long deliberations and study. "President Mubarak consulted various specialised institutions before reaching a decision and announcing it in public, and at the right time," El-Baz said, adding that electing a vice president will be studied in the same manner. El-Baz said political reform in Egypt began in the 1980s "after signing a peace agreement (with Israel) and putting an end to military confrontation". Political activists and opposition parties participating in a national dialogue have been issuing repeated calls to amend the constitution, primarily to create free and direct elections for the president and his deputy.
