Draft relaxes rules for Egyptian presidency

CAIRO, Nov 28 (Reuters) Draft amendments to the Egyptian constitution would relax the rules for political parties to contest the presidency and impose a limit of two seven-year presidential terms, the ruling party newspaper said today.

But the proposed amendments would still make it impossible under present conditions for the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition group in Egypt, to field a presidential candidate.

Al Watany Al Youm, the weekly newspaper of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), said the government was studying the proposals, prepared by what it called a technical governmental committee.

If presidential elections took place now, President Hosni Mubarak's NDP would be the only party able to field a candidate because in last year's parliamentary elections no other parties won enough seats to qualify to nominate one.

Under the current constitution, a party must hold 5 per cent of the elected seats in each of the two houses of parliament in order to qualify.

Al Watany Al Youm said the conditions would be changed so that any party with more than one member in either house could field a presidential candidate.

That would make it possible for the leftist Tagammu party and the liberal Wafd to contest the elections. The Wafd fielded a candidate in 2005 and won less than 3 percent of the vote.

But it would exclude the liberal Ghad Party of imprisoned opposition leader Ayman Nour, who came a distant second to Mubarak.

Ghad lost its parliamentary seats last year.

Al Watany Al Youm said the rest of the constitutional provisions on presidential elections would remain unchanged.

That would include the requirement that independents such as a Muslim Brotherhood candidate would need endorsement from 25 elected members of the upper house and 140 members of local councils, conditions which would be difficult to meet.

The Egyptian authorities are against granting the Brotherhood recognition as a political party, on the grounds that the constitution bans parties based on religion.

Under the existing constitution presidents can serve an unlimited number of six-year terms. Mubarak began his fifth six-year term after last year's elections.

Opposition groups and analysts say the strict rules for presidential candidates are meant to leave open the possibility that the ruling party will install Mubarak's 42-year-old son Gamal as successor without a significant challenger.

Gamal has said he has no presidential plans and his father has say Egypt does not have a hereditary system.

REUTERS SSC BD1454