Reform promises followed by crackdown is a familiar Mubarak tactic

[somone]

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/02/2047629/reform-promises-followed-by-crackdown.html

Reform promises followed by crackdown a familiar Mubarak tactic
By HANNAH ALLAM

CAIRO -- Not long after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak pledged political reforms and promised not to run for a sixth five-year term, pro-government demonstrators with reported connections to the Egyptian security forces laid siege to a downtown square Wednesday and fought fierce battles with anti-government protesters. The assault was so well planned that it suggested government orchestration, or at least complicity, according to political observers, who noted that Mubarak backers had been conspicuously silent during a week of massive demonstrations against him.

The strategy of sending in the thugs after making half-hearted promises was vintage Mubarak. The tactic is familiar to political observers, for Mubarak has employed the same approach in national elections - assuring Western allies of fair polls and instead rounding up opposition candidates and dispatching foot soldiers to rough up their supporters. Samer Shehata, an Egypt expert at Georgetown University, said Mubarak has used such tactics for years to break up anti-government demonstrations and to prevent opposition supporters from casting ballots.

At least since the end of 2005, the regime has employed thugs and members of the security services dressed in civilian clothes against protesters and during election time, said Shehata, who spent months in Egypt studying the conduct of the 2005 parliamentary polls and the 2006 presidential contest. At a number of these protests, the regime operatives have had police-issued truncheons.

The timing of the mayhem also was significant, coming one day after the 82-year-old Mubarak, who has ruled for 30 years, pledged pro-democratic reforms such as setting presidential term limits and loosening restrictions listed in the constitution, which at present basically enshrines one-party rule. The provision he explicitly mentioned for reform, Article 76, lays out myriad obstacles to prevent opposition parties from running for office, which in turn guarantees the elections for Mubarak...