US Embassy conducts survey to determine Egypt’s political powers’ influence

“The United States Embassy in Cairo is preparing to conduct a comprehensive survey which includes a large number of academic intellectuals, Political Science Professors and Social Activists. The survey carried out and the results submitted to the U.S. State Department will determine the political powers worthy of US attention. This will resolve with whom there may be open dialogue with on many thorny issues, including Gamal Mubarak Egypt‘s next unelected president”, Al-Mesryoon reported.

 Academic and political figures have been invited by the American Embassy to meet Ambassador Margaret Scobey to put the final touches and initiate formal extradition proceedings on the desired figures. The Poll aims to measure the relative weight of Egypt’s political parties and the ability of these political trends to play an important role during Egypt’s parliamentary and presidential elections in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

It includes Egypt’s “legal” political powers represented in the ruling National Democratic Party (‘Al’Hizb Al Watani Al Democrati’), New Wafd Party (Hizb al-Wafd-al-Gadid), “National Front”, Tomorrow Party (Hizb al-Ghad), Nasserist Party.

The Muslim Brotherhood and the Kifaya movement were ruled out as “banned” powers not qualified to contest the forthcoming presidential elections due to restrictions imposed on independent candidates. Meanwhile, these Political sources are interpreted as an attempt to appease the Egyptian regime and without provoking its anger amid “veto” imposed on any connection between the Unites States and the Muslim Brotherhood.”

It is likely that dialogue will be conducted between the political parties that have been consulted on its attitude toward many of the thorny issues of which its conception on the bequeathing of power in Egypt as Gamal Mubarak aspires to assume power, its position on such issues like political reform and its viewpoint on improving the economic conditions as well as peaceful settlement of the conflict in the Middle East and normalization with Israel and other issues.

For his part, Ambassador Abdullah Al-Ashaal, a former assistant to Foreign Minister, asserted  that such surveys conducted by the U.S. embassy is not new, surveys  have been  held in the past on a  smaller scale in order to avoid arousing the anger of the ruling regime.

The surveys publicly conducted in which the U.S. embassy persists to perform in the context of its desire to be acquainted with any change and new developments might occur in Egypt, he said.

He downplayed the survey particularly that all developments point to the dominance of the ruling NDP on the upcoming legislative and presidential elections without any signals indicating that the national political powers can play significant roles only if the ruling regime is willing to do so.