CAIRO - Presidential hopeful Amr Moussa has pledged to immediately abolish the notorious emergency law, which has long been a call by all Egyptians since 1981, and build a new Egypt if he were to win the forthcoming presidential elections. The law, which gives police extended powers of arrest, suspends constitutional rights and curbs non-governmental political activity, must be lifted immediately to build a new nation, Mr Moussa told The Egyptian Gazette on the sidelines of his meeting with local travel agents held at a Cairo hotel on Wednesday night. "The first decision I would take, if ever I won the presidential vote, would be to abolish this law. Besides, I have a realistic plan for improving the standard of living of all Egyptians during my first 100 days of my presidency," he said. Mr Moussa, the former Arab League Secretary General and Egypt's ex-foreign minister under the Mubarak regime, added his priorities were to rescind the 32-year-old emergency law, build a new Egypt and appoint a vice-president if he won the two-day presidential race that is set to kick off on May 23. "I am determined to breathe a new life into Egypt," he declared, stating also that he was determined to make the country more visible in the Arab World, among foreign governments and international organisations. Mr Moussa, who earned wide respect for his role in Middle East peacemaking in the mid-1990s, and his sharp criticism of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, said that he would build a new regime in Egypt, which is passing through a new situation after the January 25 Revolution. "If I won the presidency, my first priority would be creating a new Egypt in accordance with a three-component plan. These components are: democracy, radical socio-economic reforms and development," he said, dissociating himself from the Mubarak regime. "The forthcoming phase needs a vice-president, who should enjoy very special characteristics that make him quite eligible for this important post," Mr. Moussa, a popular figure, said, refusing to reveal the name of a potential candidate. "When the right time comes, I will announce the name of the right person to the people." On Wednesday, the election commission announced that Egypt's presidential election will be held over two days starting May 23 and a run-off vote will take place on June 16 and 17. The final results will be released on June 21. It said that the candidates can submit their formal nominations from March 10. The closing date for nominations will be April 8. In addition to Mr Moussa, several other leading Egyptians have already expressed an interest in running for president and begun their campaigns. They include Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force pilot who served as prime minister at the height of the anti-Mubarak protests last year Mohammed Salim El Awa, an Islamist lawyer, Abdel-Moneim Abul-Futuh, a longtime moderate within the Muslim Brotherhood, and the current Arab League Secretary General Nabil el-Araby, who has been mooted as a consensus candidate.However, el-Araby has said he has no such plans. Mr Moussa affirmed that he would go ahead with his election campaigns, which would include all Egyptian governorates as well as meetings with the people, despite attempts by some "political groups" that aim to spread chaos in the country and mar his meetings for promoting his electorate programme. "My campaigns will never stop even after I was personally attacked in Sharqia Governorate by hired members of these groups," Mr Moussa said. He was assaulted by 'certain' persons, who shouted offensive slogans and attempted to throw chairs at him while he was addressing a rally in Sharqia last week. "It is unacceptable to attack a person for his ideas and to do it in a cowardly manner with shouts, insults and attempting to throw chairs at him," he asserted, adding that he would take a legal action against the leaders of these groups, whose names he did not wish to reveal. The incident came just one day after another presidential hopeful Abul-Futuh was attacked by unidentified armed men near Cairo after attending an election rally in the city of Menufia late last Thursday. Mr Moussa said that he was confident that the military rulers would hand power to civilians as promised by the end of June deadline, which they had set. In the meantime ��" if he won the May 23 election ��" Mr Moussa pledged to honour the peace treaty with Israel, restore Egypt's political muscle in the region, forge stronger relationships with all Arab neighbours, work hard on settling the major regional disputes, especially the Arab-Israeli conflict.
