Washington–Stephen McLnerney, director of Washington-based think-tank the Project on Middle East Democracy, has said the US must find the means to pressure Egypt to hold free elections, pointing to economic and military aid and US investment in Egypt, along with diplomatic incentives.
He went on to say that the reactivation of the free trade agreement between the two countries could also serve as a means of political leverage.
In an interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm, McLnerney dismissed the notion that the US was interfering in Egypt’s internal affairs by issuing calls for reform, since the Egyptian public itself supported such calls.
Regarding Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood opposition group, he said that if the group won seats in Sunday's parliamentary elections, it would be due to the fact that the Egyptian government's exclusivist policies had served to marginalize secular opposition parties.
On next year’s presidential elections, McLnerney said the US did not support presidential scion Gamal Mubarak, would-be independent candidate Mohamed ElBaradei, or anyone else in particular–as long as elections were held in a free and transparent manner.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
