President Hosni Mubarak opened the door on Saturday to multi-candidate presidential polls in Egypt, a dramatic move welcomed by Washington and opposition groups as a step towards more open government.Analysts described his announcement, heralding the first contested polls since the 1952 fall of the monarchy, as a response to both US calls and an increasingly vocal domestic Opposition. Mubarak, 76, said he had proposed parliament change the constitution ‘‘to give the opportunity to political parties to enter the presidential elections and provide guarantees that allow more than one candidate to be put forward to the presidency for people to choose among them freely’’.US State Department spokesman Steven Pike welcomed the development, which came a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice postponed a visit to Egypt.‘‘As a friend of the government and people, we’ve urged Egypt to broaden the base of political participation,’’ Pike said. ‘‘This appears to be a step in the direction of a more open political system,’’ he said.Under Egypt’s existing system, parliament, dominated by Mubarak’s ruling National Democratic Party, has to approve a sole candidate, who then must be approved in a public vote. The next presidential vote is due in September. —Reuters
