20110203
Xinhua
CAIRO, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak pledged Tuesday that he would not seek the next term in his Televised speech to people, after eight days of anti-government protests demanding an end of his 30-year-rule.

The ironhanded leader also affirmed that he will work in the last months of his term to ensure a smooth transfer of power, urging the People's Assembly (Parliament) to amend the constitution, to control the criteria of the candidacy and tenure of president.

Mubarak has reshuffled his government on Monday in an attempt to ease the amounting pressure against his regime. He also authorized the newly-appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman to conduct dialogue with the opposition.

Mass protests across the country has led to more than 100 killed and thousands injured. Hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded downtown Cairo on Tuesday morning for a "march of one million." Most of protesters demanded Mubarak give up power and resign immediately.

The local analyst Talat Rahemi believed that Mubarak's compromise is the best way to solve the current crisis in Egypt. " His resolution is good to Egypt to restore stability, resume economic activities and ensure power transition peacefully and avoid further chaos," Rehemi told Xinhua.

However, the attitudes of the oppositions are different for responding to the president's speech. Egyptian dissident and former International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohammed ElBaradei said Tuesday via Al Arabia TV channel that Mubarak's speech did not meet people's demand, and he urged the immediate resignation and departure of Mubarak.

The largest opposition group in Egypt, the banned Muslim Brotherhood, on Monday rejected the dialogue with the government, while the other 12 legal opposition parties including Wafd, Tagammu and Nassarites have agreed to accept it.

Although the constitutional reform is pledged to be undertaken, including limiting the presidential terms and lifting restrictions on candidacy, it is uncertain whether the reform could be accomplished before presidential elections in September and accepted by the opposition.

According to the Egyptian constitution, one presidential term is six years and there is no limit for how many terms a man can hold consecutively. However, the constitution requires the candidate to belong to a legal party, depriving some independent candidates of chance to run for the presidency.

Although some cabinet members such as the ministers of interior and finance have been replaced, some local observers noted the fact that about half of the ministers remained unchanged could not meet the people's demand. Doubts still exist about whether the new government can solve the problems of corruption, unemployment, poverty and rising prices.

After the eruption of the mass protests, the United States urged the Egyptian government, one of its major allies in the Middle East, to respond to the people's demand. The U.S. President Barack Obama reportedly sent a special envoy to meet with Mubarak on Tuesday, while the U.S. ambassador in Cairo made contact with ElBaradei.

Following Mubarak's address, Obama called in a TV speech for an orderly and immediate power transition in Egypt.

"An orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be peaceful and it must begin now," Obama said.

Hamadain Sabah, a former member of the Egyptian People's Assembly, praised Mubarak's decision not to stand for re-election as right and helpful for preventing the situation from deteriorating. Although the oppositions may continue to protest, the new government has ushered Egypt into a new era, he said.