CAIRO: Rare public statements on the state of the Egyptian president’s health will do little to answer questions on the country’s political future ahead of presidential elections next year, analysts say.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, 81, was said by state television to be in a “stable condition on Sunday, a day after surgery in Germany to remove his gall bladder and have a growth taken out of his small intestine.
The government says it is being transparent on the president’s ailment and surgery, issuing daily reports on his condition, although it gave no indication before he left for Germany that he would undergo a check-up and an operation.
While analysts have welcomed the attempt at openness, they say it provides only an illusion of transparency.
A lack of trust in state institutions and the system of governance leave Egyptians in the dark over the effect of the president’s illness on the future of their country, they say.
“There is a general lack of trust between the government and the people. The statements (on Mubarak’s health) will do little to answer the big questions, Emad Gad, a political analyst with the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told AFP.
“The regime here is a closed one. No one really knows what the nature of Mubarak’s ailment is, said Gad. “People are kept at a distance from the political process.
Abdallah Al-Senawy, a columnist with the Al-Araby weekly, expressed doubt that this signaled a new direction for the government, saying “the curtains of silence will once again fall on the state of the president’s health.
Mubarak’s health is usually a taboo subject in the country he has ruled since 1981, fuelling regular rumors.
Journalists writing about the president’s health have been jailed in the past.
The veteran leader, who was accompanied by his wife Suzanne and other family members on his trip to Germany, delegated executive powers to Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif until he returns to Cairo, as prescribed by the constitution.
But such is the strength of the one-man-rule in Egypt, that few believe Nazif can do more than keep Mubarak’s seat warm until his return.
“Does Dr Nazif really have the ability to manage the state? Could he issue a presidential decree to amend the constitution? Can he meet visiting dignitaries in his capacity as president? Mohamed Amin wrote in the opposition daily Al-Wafd.
US Vice President Joe Biden is due in Egypt this week and it is not known whether Nazif will meet him, should Mubarak not make it back in time.
“This brings us back to the question of the importance of appointing a vice president, Amin wrote.
Unlike his two predecessors, Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Al-Sadat, Mubarak has never appointed a vice president. He is widely believed to be grooming his son Gamal to succeed him.
“We all know that the policies secretariat manages the government and imposes its policies on it, Amin wrote in reference to the ruling party’s political bureau which is headed by Mubarak’s son.
Ibrahim Eissa, editor-in-chief of the independent daily Al-Dostour who was sentenced to jail in 2008 for writing about Mubarak’s health, has often spoken out against the “inheritance of power.
He said only elections – which are scheduled for 2011 – should determine the country’s future.
“How can we convince Mubarak that it is time for change? Elections are coming and that is the way, Eissa wrote.
