President Hosni Mubarak Thursday welcomed the "active societal interaction that calls for reform", but warned against fusing the "concept of change with chaos". "We are committed to continuing the political reform we have started. These reforms support the role of Parliament, the independence of judiciary and separates religion and politics,"Mubarak said in a keynote address Thursday, marking May Day. Egypt will hold a parliamentary election later this year, to be followed next year by a presidential poll. Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt since 1981, has yet to announce whether he will stand again. "We are sure the forthcoming parliamentary elections [the Shura Council and the People's Assembly, the respective Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament] will be fair and transparent," Mubarak told a rally in Cairo Thursday. He continued that voters need Members of Parliaments (MPs) whom they can trust: "MPs who can forward new ideas and practical solutions". "I say to those who raise slogans and content themselves with posturing: this is not enough to gain the trust of people. They must respond to the questions of the ordinary people. What can they offer them?" he asked. Mubarak, meanwhile, asked what he termed 'propagandists' to spell out their electoral programmes and to exert much effort to convince voters about investment, terrorism, citizens on low incomes and foreign policy. He was referring to some political figures, who have recently announced plans to run for presidency, including the former chief of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei. Mubarak's address, marking this year's May Day, comes as hundreds of Egyptian workers are protesting outside the Egyptian Parliament over work conditions, while others are leading a legal battle with the Government to raise their minimum wage. The speech was the first given by Mubarak after returning to Cairo from the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where he was convalescing from surgery he underwent in March in Germany. "Normal, gradual pay rises for Egyptian workers have been underway during the past ten years. However, any unexpected pay increase will lead to a sharp decline in job opportunities," Mubarak stated. He added that any pay raise should be related to an increase in production, adding that he had urged Parliament to review the laws governing the relation between employers and employees.
