Secretary Rice holds a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit following meetings.

Bush Congratulates Egyptian President, People on Election

03 October 2006

(Secretary welcomes Egypt's interest in developing civil nuclear power)

Washington – If the Middle East is to make progress toward achieving democracy, Egypt will have to be a leader along that path, according to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Speaking to reporters in Cairo on October 3 after meetings with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Rice said the United States was disappointed with Egypt’s latest parliamentary elections, but she called last year’s presidential elections a “breakthrough.” 

Egypt’s November 2005 parliamentary elections were marred by reports of widespread voter intimidation and fraud.  The presidential election of September 2005, however, was the first competitive presidential elections in the country’s history. (See related article.)

“I think Egypt has taken a step that will not actually be undone in having had those competitive elections,” Rice said.  “The process of democracy has its ups and its downs, and any state going through it will.  But the United States will continue to speak about the importance of democracy, about the importance of a great nation like Egypt leading this move to democracy in the region.  We do so in a spirit of friendship and respect.”

The secretary said the United States has no desire to interfere in Egypt’s internal affairs.  But she added “the Untied States as a friend of Egypt and as a party with a great stake in the future of the Middle East believes very strongly that it is important to stand with those who are looking to greater freedom for their people, who are looking to what [President Bush] has called the non-negotiable demands of human dignity, which means the right to choose those who will govern you, the right to worship as you please, the right to educate your girls and your boys, the right to be free from the arbitrary power of the state.  These are universal human values, not American values.”

Rice outlined her hopes for a future Middle East as a place with peace between old adversaries, a democratic state of Palestine living alongside a democratic state of Israel, and a region whose people enjoy democratic freedoms and liberties.

Noting that the United States until very recently deprived African Americans of basic civil rights, Rice said that no nation can claim to be a perfect model of democratic development.  “And so we understand that it's hard, but it is right that people have these rights and you have to continue to struggle toward it, and you have to continue to move toward it, and you can't be afraid of it because it is really the only way that human beings reach their full potential,” she said.

Rice also welcomed Egypt’s expression of interest in developing a civil nuclear power program as long as the program is based on external sourcing of nuclear fuel.  She said this condition is necessary to protect against the proliferation risk.

“States that are in good standing in the NPT, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, should have access to civil nuclear power.  Civil nuclear power is critical to diversifying energy resources, and we want to pursue help with states that are in good standing and wish to do that,” she said.  “We would be pleased to discuss this with Egypt as Egypt develops its plans.”