The UN’s former nuclear chief has yet to return home to his native Egypt after almost a quarter century monitoring the world’s atomic programs, but the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize winner has already created the biggest political stir in his homeland in years by hinting at a new career in politics.
Mohamed ElBaradei may one day regret plunging into Egypt’s politics — where challenges to the regime have been few and swiftly dealt with — but his move has injected fresh hope into the country’s stagnant political atmosphere.
Egypt has been ruled for nearly 30 years by President Hosni Mubarak, now 81, who appears to be trying to set up a political dynasty by grooming his son to succeed him.
Respected throughout the world and untouched by the corruption tainting much of the regime in Egypt, ElBaradei could well be the most credible opposition leader to emerge in the country in living memory.
However, the chances of ElBaradei of even being allowed to run in the 2011 presidential race are slim, thanks to a series of constitutional amendments pushed through by the government in 2005 and 2007 that practically limit the candidacies to senior members of the ruling party or a few token, officially sanctioned, opposition parties.
Even if he did run, he would be faced by a ruling party candidate backed by the government’s vast resources and enjoying the support of the security agencies, the most powerful players in Egyptian elections.
“But the frustration within Egypt is such that such a figure could inspire a real sense of opposition even if such sentiments are primarily a rejection of the status quo,” said Egyptian-American analyst Michael Hanna of the Century Foundation in New York. “He is a very compelling figure.”
ElBaradei is not expected to return home from Vienna for another month, but in an open letter responding to a campaign by young Egyptians urging him to run for president, he said he would only run if there were guarantees that elections would be free, fully supervised by the judiciary and monitored by the international community.
He also wants the Constitution amended to remove restrictions on who is eligible to run.
“What I want is for Egypt to become a democratic nation ... my words are not driven by a personal desire or motive but by a firm conviction that the people of Egypt deserve 10 times better than what they have,” he told the independent al-Shorouk daily in an interview last month.
Egypt’s authoritarian ruler of 28 years, Mubarak has not named a successor and never had a vice president since he took office in 1981.
Some commentators say the soft-spoken ElBaradei could be of more use to Egypt if he did not seek the presidency and focused instead on creating a popular movement to press for reform.
“Entering the presidential arena is the wrong start,” Abdel-Azeem Hamad, editor of al-Shorouk, warned ElBaradei in a recent article, suggesting instead a run for parliament in next year’s general election.
Others, however, say he could be the country’s savior, delivering its 80 million people from what is widely seen as policies biased in favor of the rich and against the poor and forcing Mubarak, or his successor, into introducing genuine reforms.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese