Ibrahim Dreams of Genie

Egyptian pro-democracy activist Saadeddin Ibrahim says that Hosni Mubarak's plan to hold open elections is a big deal. His enthusiasm is tempered by the fact that we don't know the details and Hosni could hose Egypt by setting up a Tunisian style elections in which the incumbent gets 96% of the vote instead of the usual 99%. Nonetheless he believes that the democratic genie is out of the bottle and it will be difficult for the NDP hacks to stuff it back. Ibrahim credits a number of factors for Mubarak's declaration and alludes to international pressure yet he ignores the interesting timing of the announcement. Less than two days before Hosni spoke Condi Rice called off a highly publicized trip to Egypt to protest the continued incarceration of dissident Ayman Nour.