Press Interpreter

06/02/05 -- The second conference on the development of female leadership skills has demanded the full coordination of the secretary of women’s affairs and the secretary of rural affairs in implementing, at all levels of the National Party, the rural women and youth political participation encouragement project in the upcoming stage. The emphasis is being placed on communication with co-ops in order to support rural women and youth in view of advancing democracy, as well as finding the spirit of cooperation, existence, and hard work among woman and youth in the country.

Dr. Mu'mina Kamel, Secretary of Women’s Affairs in the National Party, and Abu al-Abaas 'Uthmaan, the party’s Secretary of Rural Affairs, confirmed that Egypt’s safety and stability required the re-election of Hosni Mubarak as president of Egypt. They also said during the conference's closing session that woman in urban areas and the countryside would not be satisfied with a substitute for President Mubarak. Dr. Kamel said that President Mubarak was the one who defended women's cause and enabled them to rise up economically and politically. Rural women witnessed their golden age under his presidency, she said, adding that the Egyptian countryside and south valley had reached a level of development that surpassed that of the cities in Egypt. This, she said, confirmed the political leadership's degree of concern for women in the country.

She added that inciting rural women to participate politically in the upcoming stage of elections reflected Hosni Mubarak’s true concern that these women be aware of their constitutional and political rights.

Abu al-Abass said that rural women had a positive and distinguished role in the referendum on the amendment of article 76 of the constitution. According to Abbass, participation in the referendum was greater in the country than in the cities, which confirms the extent of rural women’s' awareness of their political rights, as well as their full understanding of the importance of the president's initiative.

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By Nihal Shukry

--Translated by: Michael McCain

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