CAIRO: Egyptians will vote in multi-candidate presidential elections for the first time September 7, but their choices have been very limited. After controversial qualification procedures the list of aspirants has been narrowed down to 10 men, some familiar, others less so. Two prominent political parties have said they will boycott the contest, while the banned Muslim Brotherhood has not been allowed to field a nominee.

After a constitutional amendment earlier this year allowing for election of the president from among several candidates, a final roster of contenders was announced by the Presidential Election Commission on August 11. Besides incumbent President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak of the National Democratic Party the list includes Ayman Nour of the high-profile Al-Ghad Party and Nomaan Gomaa of the long-established Al-Wafd Party.

With election campaigning in full swing, Mubarak has vowed to stick to the same ‘pragmatic foreign policy’ marked by its closeness to the United States, and to the gradualist liberal economic policy that has defined his tenure. Nour has promised to stamp out corruption, ease unemployment and rein in soaring inflation. Gomaa promises to establish elections as the basis for government legitimacy.

The campaign platforms of less prominent candidates are just as varied. Fawzy Ghazal of the Egypt 2000 Party wants to distance Egypt from the United States. Ibrahim Tork of the Democratic Unionist Party wants economic reform with improved exploitation of natural resources. The constitutional amendment allowing multiple candidacies does away with a previous referendum system in which citizens were allowed a simple yes or no vote to a single nominee backed by parliament. That arrangement has kept Hosni Mubarak president since October 1981.

The change comes with stringent qualification requirements. Candidates must represent legal political parties and garner the support of at least 250 elected officials. Egypt has a People’s Assembly with 454 seats and an Advisory Council with 264 seats. Elections are held to both, though some members are nominated. The strict criteria have eliminated a number of aspirants. Two contenders were turned down because the activities of their party had been suspended, an election commission spokesman said. —Dawn/Inter-Press News Service