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Joe Biden: ’Meaningful negotiations’ with government can meet protesters’ demands

09 February 2011 00:19 (UTC +04:00)

Biden made his comments in a phone call with his Egyptian counterpart Omar Suleiman, according to a White House statement. Suleiman is a longtime ally of Mubarak who was recently appointed vice president and is now undertaking some incremental reform steps that are increasingly gaining U.S. support even though many protesters view them as little better than cosmetic.
Mubarak has said he will not seek re-election in September after 30 years of authoritarian rule. But he is resisting stepping down before then despite two weeks of dramatic street protests aimed at forcing him to do so.
Although President Barack Obama called last week for a transition to begin "now," the U.S. appears increasingly reluctant to push Egypt’s government too far, too fast.
During his conversation with Suleiman, the White House said, Biden listed steps the U.S. wants him to take including: ending detention and harassment of journalists and activists; immediately rescinding emergency laws that give broad powers to security forces; and including more opposition members in negotiations on a timetable and road to transition.
"These steps, and a clear policy of no reprisals, are what the broad opposition is calling for and what the government is saying it is prepared to accept," the White House said. "Vice President Biden expressed the belief that the demands of the broad opposition can be met through meaningful negotiations with the government."
Suleiman on Tuesday made a new gesture, declaring a panel of judges and scholars to recommend constitutional changes within a month. Protesters, mostly youthful, massed in huge numbers in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to insist anew that no concessions will do unless Mubarak steps down.
But Biden’s message to Suleiman was different: He noted the steps the government has taken and urged "immediate action to follow through."
Biden also reiterated the U.S. position that the Egyptian people must determine the outcome in their country. He called for an orderly transition that is "prompt, meaningful, peaceful, and legitimate" and produces "immediate, irreversible progress that responds to the aspirations of the Egyptian people."
As the U.S. anxiously awaits political developments in its staunchest Arab ally, a signatory to a peace treaty with Israel, administration officials warned that a precipitous exit by Mubarak could set back the country’s democratic transition.
Under Egypt’s constitution, Mubarak’s resignation would trigger an election in 60 days, well before September, and U.S. officials said that’s not enough time to prepare.
"A question that that would pose is . whether Egypt today is prepared to have a competitive, open election," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Monday. "Given the recent past, where, quite honestly, elections were less than free and fair, there’s a lot of work that has to be done to get to a point where you can have free and fair elections."
President Barack Obama said Egypt is making progress toward a solution to the political crisis enveloping the country and preparing for free elections to replace Mubarak.
"Obviously, Egypt has to negotiate a path, and I think they’re making progress," Obama told reporters.
Obama did not elaborate, but his comments echoed those of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who over the weekend threw U.S. support behind the Suleiman-led transition process and urged the international community to back it.
On Friday, Obama had seemed to welcome a quick departure, saying that now that Mubarak had made the hard decision not to run again he should "do the right thing."
Suleiman met for the first time Sunday with several major opposition groups, but some notable elements were not included. U.S. officials said those talks had to be broader to gain credibility with the Egyptian people.