Egypt's ruling party wraps up its annual conference on Monday with
President Hosni Mubarak's son Gamal again avoiding the key question of
who will succeed his father after almost 30 years in power
During the three-day conference, National Democratic Party leaders,
including former investment banker Gamal, 44, sought to remedy the
party's image as undemocratic and run by businessmen.
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Asked about the possibility of succeeding his father, a move that would prove as unpopular with the Egyptian people as it would be favoured by international investors, Gamal was evasive.
"Is there a country or a party that decides on its candidate for elections three years before they take place?" he said.
"We have a political structure and a fundamental organisation inside the party, and we also have a clear constitution and legislative structure we respect."
Egypt's next presidential election is set for 2011, and Mubarak senior, in power since 1981, has neither said he will not run again nor has he appointed a vice-president who traditionally "inherits" the top job.
"The designation of a vice-president would be the clearest sign of a successor," said Issandr El Amrani, analyst with the International Crisis Group think tank.
Gamal is associated with the pro-liberal economic reforms that have taken place under Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif since 2004. But with Egypt's main opposition movement consisting of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, foreign investors want reassurances of future stability.
"The question of succession is one of the biggest questions that's faced by Egypt, by anyone interested in long-term business here, with an interest in what the country will be like in five or 10 years' time," said Amrani.
"Their main concern is that the trends since 2004 of pro-market reforms continue... many would like to see Gamal as president as this would imply the continuity of these policies as well as political continuity."
Gamal and other NDP stalwarts were also at pains to defend themselves from opposition claims that their voices are being stifled.
"Today we are living through an opening up, by way of media and independent newspapers and sharp debate and the proceedings of parliament," Gamal insisted.
NDP leaders accused opposition parties of preferring criticism of the party to offering their own constructive alternatives.
"In a sense they have a point," said Amrani. "The press is knee-jerk critical a lot of the time, but that doesn't really inspire confidence in the NDP because it has tacitly endorsed the repression of the opposition."
While not mentioning the Islamists by name, senior NDP figure and tycoon Ahmed Ezz lashed out at the Muslim Brotherhood as "an illegal organisation that moves on the command of the supreme guide."
But MP Hamdeen Sabahi, who heads the Karameh opposition party, accused the NDP of a similar hierarchy, according to Al-Dustur newspaper.
"Gamal Mubarak is now the supreme leader of the NDP, which obeys his orders," the independent paper quoted him as saying.
The Brotherhood's number two, Mohammed Habib, was equally dismissive of the conference's proceedings.
"It doesn't deserve a response. It's no different from other conferences. What's new? All the talk about political reform contradicts the realities faced by Egyptian citizens, such as unemployment."
EGYPT NEWS
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