programmes of presidential candidates Amr Moussa
Amr Moussa, a diplomat who tries very hard to win over all sides, a former foreign minister who enjoyed unprecedented admiration, a former Arab League secretary-general who predicted that the Jasmine Revolution was only the first step towards the inevitable Arab Spring, and a politician who knows how to manoeuvre, rally and win. With a 41 per cent approval rating, Amr Moussa topped the list of 13 candidates in this week's poll conducted by Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. He enjoys a level of name recognition among the public that few, if any, of his opponents can match.
Throughout the best part of his years in public service Amr Moussa commanded the allegiance of public opinion. He was for many years, and is still for some, seen as the charismatic politician, someone who dared to differ with his boss, president Mubarak, on matters of national security, especially relations with Israel and the US. The distance Moussa managed to publicly maintain from Mubarak and his immediate circle won him sympathy during his decade-long tenure as Egypt's foreign minister and when he was nominated for the Arab League secretary-general's job commentators lamented his departure as a loss for Egyptian diplomacy. Arab commentators then welcomed him as a man whose political positions, especially on the Arab-Israeli struggle, offered a cause for dignity.
But the thankless task of heading the Arab League, to which he was moved, many believe, because he represented a threat to plans for Gamal Mubarak to succeed his father, eroded Amr Moussa's popularity. Inevitably, he became associated with the failures of the collective Arab regime over which he presided.
Moussa's attempts to avoid the escalation of a campaign to discredit potential alternatives to Gamal Mubarak, say his aides, further complicates his position. Statements that they say were made as a matter of courtesy to the Egyptian president are now taken against him by revolutionary forces who see them as evidence of his deep links with the ousted regime, while his criticisms of the regime's foreign and domestic policies are all but ignored.
Despite a careful show of sympathy with the 25 January Revolution, Amr Moussa did not actually join the masses in calling for an end to the rule of Mubarak. He played the diplomat seeking to support the revolution indirectly. Revolutionary forces never appreciated this choice.
Today he faces a tough fight convincing his critics that his years at the helm of the Foreign Ministry were spent in serving the public rather than a regime comprised of Mubarak cronies.
As a presidential candidate, Amr Moussa is again living up to the challenge, explaining himself, arguing his case and reaching out to those who are with him and those against him with no hesitation despite the inevitable frustrations at times.
For his electoral symbol Moussa chose the sun. It brings light and warmth. It goes to people; it does not wait for people to come to it.
It may be an uphill struggle, but it is one Moussa's most implacable opponents believe he might win.
PLATFORM -- 'THE SECOND REPUBLIC': Not just a total overhaul of the system that has practically wrecked the country but a process of rejuvenation for Egypt -- this is what Moussa proposes in his platform.
Moussa launched his platform, which he says will reverse Egypt's political and economic decline, from the heart of Ezbet Al-Haggana, one of Cairo's shantytowns.
He has stressed that his platform's goals can be attained only through dedicated teamwork, orchestrated by a president planning to run for a single term. "I am calling on all citizens to join hands and work together with me to help put Egypt on the right road," said Moussa.
The programme aims at ensuring that by the end of four years Egypt is on track to eradicate poverty and illiteracy among a projected population of 150 million by 2050.
"Egypt deserves to be the strongest and leading nation not just in the Arab world but in the Middle East and the Red Sea and Mediterranean basin," says Moussa.
His priorities include improving education and healthcare and boosting scientific research. His economic policies will attempt to boost activity across sectors.
For the first 100 days Amr Moussa is particularly committed to reintroducing the much compromised security, to re-enforce the law upon all citizens alike and to end the victimisation of the marginalised segments of society and isolation of poorer neighbourhoods, governorates and border cities.
Moussa's platform also promotes equality among Egypt's citizens, placing them on an equal footing before the law, "with no discrimination, none whatsoever". A key note to his campaigning is that life must improve for every citizen, man and woman, Muslim and Copt.
SUPPORT: "We know what Moussa is capable of and we know he could do the job. And it is not just us. As a former foreign minister and secretary-general of the Arab League he is known internationally which could make his job as a president easier," says Nadia, a Copt from Tanta. "Nor is he sectarian; he does not hate us [Copts]."
"Given that the majority in this country is Muslim the president has to be Muslim, this I accept. But I cannot accept an Islamist as president," argued the middle-aged housewife. She added that she wants her grandchildren to grow up in a society where being a Copt is not something that works against you.
Other supporters say they will vote for Amr Moussa because he is a statesman capable of handling the many challenges facing Egypt both at home and abroad.
"The situation facing Egypt is far too complicated to have a pair of new hands in the top seat," says Hadi, a dermatologist in his late 20s. "This is an emergency situation that requires experience. There is no room for trial and error when you have a declining economy, retreating levels of security, deteriorating public services and the erosion of social cohesion, not just between Muslims and Copts but between the poor and the rich."
Moussa's opponents argue that experience does not count for everything, and certainly not when it has gained in the corrupting milieu of the Mubarak regime. What Egypt needs now, they say, is not someone who is going to tweak the system but who will dispense with existing formulas and start afresh.
"Moussa was never a part of the revolution and should not be allowed to take advantage of it now. Only those who were there when people risked their lives should be allowed to run for president," says Nabil, a translator in his late 40s. "I admit I was dismayed when Mubarak removed him from the Foreign Ministry to clear the way for Gamal but that was over 10 years ago. It was before the revolution."
Nabil, who says he was in Tahrir Square for every one of the 18 days of the revolution, now sees the world through the strict lens of those who were in Tahrir and those who were not.
The fact that Amr Moussa served for 10 years under Mubarak as foreign minister is something many of Moussa's opponents say militates against his election.
"I cannot reconcile myself with anyone from the old regime. It makes no difference whether or not he was removed by Mubarak to pave the way for his son. In the end Moussa served as part of the regime that the revolution came to remove," says Mona, an architect in her early 50s. Although she was not part of the revolution Mona believes it would be "unfair" for the next president to come from the old regime.
"I know people say he has experience and that he disagreed with Mubarak but I think that it is time for a fresh start. Amr Moussa is not a fresh start."
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