UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 000692

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KPAO KMDR OPRC EG XF ZP ZR IS
SUBJECT: EGYPTIAN MEDIA THEMES, JANUARY 17-23.


1. Summary: Coverage of the Palestinian elections hit a
crescendo at the end of the week, with many commentators
reacting negatively to President Bushs Jan. 27 statement.
While only three percent of commentaries were critical of
U.S. policy before the election results were announced,
forty percent of commentaries on Jan. 28 were negative. On
the domestic front, all papers carried independent daily,
Rose Al Youssef's four-part in-depth interview with Gamal
Mubarak, which included comments on the NDP, reform and his
plans within the party. Internal strife within opposition
party, Al Wafd, which, among other things, resulted in the
partys leader suspending the publication of Al-Wafd
d
newspaper, generated much commentary on the state of
opposition politics, and the role of the governing NDP in
the face of a weakening opposition. End summary.


2. Palestinian Elections: Egyptian news television and
papers provided extensive coverage on the Palestinian
elections. Commentators, for example, welcomed the
election results, called the vote a statement against
Israel and corruption in Fatah, and stressed the need for
Hamas and the Palestinian people to ensure the peace
process continues. Some highlights included extensive news
coverage of President Mubarak's statement to the
Palestinians "to come together and ensure the peace
process moves forward to achieve the aspirations of a
Palestinian state" (Jan. 27) and the Arab League's "praise"
of the "democratic elections" for which it "welcomed the
results" (pro-government daily, Al-Ahram, circ. 750,000,
Jan. 27). Independent daily, Al-Masry Al-Yom (circ. 5,000),
quoted the Supreme Guide of the Islamic movement, the
Muslim Brotherhood, congratulating Hamas for "its victory
as a public vote in favor of the Islamic method of solving
the Palestinian issue." This sentiment was similar to
aggressive, pro-government, daily, Al-Gomhouriyyas (circ.
500,000) conservative column claiming that the Hamas
victory illustrated "the strong influence of Islamic
movements on the people." (Jan. 27) Al-Gomhouriyya's second

column on Jan. 27 quoted a former Egyptian ambassador
calling on Hamas "to lay down weapons and turn into a
political movement" to prevent donor countries from cutting
off assistance and jeopardizing "peace negotiations with
Israel," a theme similar to Al-Ahram's Islamic columnists
who questioned "how Hamas will improve the lives of the
Palestinians when donors are threatening to cut off their
assistance." (Jan. 28) Some columnists predicted how Hamas
would face the challenge of leading, such as Al-Ahram's two
liberal columnists who concluded that "Hamas will find
itself compelled to change its method from armed struggle
to politics" and "will ask Fatah and Abu Mazen to be the
middle-man in negotiations with Israel." (Jan. 28)


3. Reactions to President Bushs Statement on Elections.
The U.S. congratulations to the Palestinian people for an
election free of violence and Secretary Rices
characterization of the vote as free and fair was noted in
the press. However, U.S. statements that it had not
changed its position on Hamas being a terrorist movement
spurred negative reactions and created a spike in anti-U.S.
commentaries which rose from three percent to 33 percent in
one day. Columnists in pro-government dailies, Al-Ahram,
Al-Akhbar (circ. 800,000) and Al-Gomhouriyya, characterized
the U.S. position on Hamas as "hypocritical", "false
advocacy of democracy" and a reflection of "unjust policies
for which it must now pay the price." Television programs
on January 28 criticized U.S. Mideast policy. A strategic
c
expert on Egyptian TVs Nile News said he doubts the U.S.
really wants democracy in the region and a commentator
featured on Al Mehwar satellite TVs evening program,
VIP, called the election results the U.S.s fault for
achieving no progress in 13 years since Oslo.


4. Gamal Mubarak on the NDP: All papers carried the four
part interview conducted by independent daily and weekly,
Rose al Youssef (daily circ. unconfirmed; weekly circ.
50,000). In the lengthy interview, Mubarak was asked about
many NDP-related issues, including his interpretation of
Article 76, the new constitutional article that allowed for
multi-party elections. In this context, he was asked if
Article 76 was passed to serve him personally to run for
president. He responded, The main purpose of the
amendment is to continue reform. The world is changing
around us and we want to move from the stage of
personalizing things. On multi-party elections, he said,
I do not think that anybody agrees to let one party have
party have
the right to run in the elections of 2011. On the
contrary, the amendment gave exception to the parties in
2005 and reflects hopes that many will participate in the
next elections. Many papers picked up on his response to
the question whether he will run for president in 2011, I
neither have the intention nor the desire to be a
candidate; my words are very clear." There were few
reactions to the interview, however, senior columnist for
Al-Ahram, Ibrahim Nafei, commented on the interview as
"paving the way for wide-spread changes and reform in the
NDP, especially to overcome the problems in the 2005
parliamentary elections." (Jan. 28)


5. Demise of the Traditional Opposition?
A judicial decision to allow Al-Wafd's former chairman,
No'man Gomaa, to re-enter the party's headquarters and
resume his position prompted questions about the
opposition's ability to eventually achieve power, as well
as the State's perceived role in the case. On Jan. 27, Al
l
Ahram published a column blaming Gomaa of "leading Egypt's
most prominent opposition party into chaos," while Al Masry
Al Yom accused the government of exposing the Political
Parties Affairs Committees lack of impartiality and
intention to destroy true partisan activities." Pro-
government daily, Al-Akhbar's conservative chief editor
wrote that the Wafd party dispute "is not surprising"
because "opposition parties in Egypt have been affected by
the atmosphere of reform and transparency sweeping society
and can no longer tolerate dictatorial leadership." He
concluded by advising "all other parties to learn the
lesson." (Jan. 27)

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