Shlonkom Bakazay?

Look what American taxpayers have been paying for all these years.

Previously, Egyptians have cast only a yes or no vote on a sole candidate nominated by parliament every six years.

Whereby Saddam Mubarak's margin of victory tended to be near the margin of Saddam Hussein's 99%. The former would only receive about 98% of the vote, though.

Now with the new changes, it looks like corruption will only be encouraged. How comforting.

The guidelines stipulate that a presidential candidate must either be a member of an official political party or, if running as an independent, get a minimum of 65 recommendations from elected members of the lower house, 25 from the Shura council, and 10 from local councils from at least 14 governorates.

Insisting to rescind such stipulations for entry into the presidential race shall be paramount to those that wish for real democracy in the Arab world. Making changes in the most populous Arab nation, Egypt, may prove to be difficult, but to be two-faced and insincere about what's really happening only adds more poison to the current situation. And that's the last thing we need now.

The regulations, which were first published in state-owned media on Thursday, were seen by opposition figures as putting a gag on serious contenders because all the elected bodies are dominated by Mubarak's ruling party and its supporters.

Ya think?