The MDP has said the roadmap for reform is inadequate, superficial and being implemented too slowly, one year since the plan was unveiled by the government.

The opposition party’s in-depth analysis, released Tuesday, concludes that little substantive reform has been achieved and that negotiations are urgently needed to improve the speed and quality of the changes.

In some areas the government has reneged on its commitments or even regressed. This regression is being encoded in law e.g. the Presidential Decrees on Defamation and on the Freedom of Assembly. These laws provide for the statutory entrenchment of existing autocratic practices, and require urgent amendment," the report says.

The anniversary of the roadmap will pass largely unnoticed by many, as the government has made no effort to highlight the occasion, and it passes unmentioned in the state media.

Many within government have acknowledged that the pace of reform is too slow, although the government rejects claims that moves to ‘usher in democracy’ are a superficial attempt to appease the international community, or that proposed legislation is not good enough.

The MDP’s report identifies a range of problems with how the Roadmap has been implemented, including:

1. Slow pace of reform – only one reform Bill has passed in the People’s Majlis in the past year

2. Missed deadlines – many Bills have not been tabled on time

3. Superficial reform – a Police Integrity Commission was established in September 2006 but has not met even once

4. Failure to meet international standards – independent analyses show legislation is deeply flawed and is not compliant with human rights treaties signed by the government

MDP Acting President Ibrahim Hussain Zaki said: "This report clearly shows how little has been achieved in the past year. Indeed, in some areas, the government has enacted draconian laws that are worse than what existed before. "

The report, apart from being released on the one year anniversary of the roadmap, comes on the day after the government party, the DRP, suspended bilateral talks over the slow pace of reform.

"This only emphasises how important it is for the DRP to return to negotiations. Without working together, it will be difficult to accelerate constitutional reform and amend legislation and institutions proposed under the Roadmap," said Zaki.

"Of course, we may differ in opinion on various issues. But whatever each side’s position, our differences will not be overcome by the DRP boycotting negotiations. They must return to the negotiating table without delay," added the MDP Acting President.

The MDP aims much of its criticism at the snail’s pace of the government in developing a free media, saying: "The government did not honour its commitment to table legislation allowing for the creation of privately-owned broadcast media by 31st October 2006. This essential move would have begun to address the state monopoly on radio and television, which continues to deny any significant coverage to those that dissent."

The report goes on: "On 1st November 2006 the Minister of Information announced that this legislation would be delayed ‘because of the negative effects of unconditional press freedom’. This directly contradicts both the Roadmap and comments made by the Minister only two weeks earlier when he said that privately-owned broadcast media would be able to obtain licences quickly. At least 38 requests for radio and television broadcasting licences have been filed with the authorities, all of which remain pending."

The analysis then points out that much of the proposed legislation as part of the roadmap fails to comply with international standards, including the Press Freedom Decree and the Defamation Decree.