Conference tackles the future of Egypt
By Mohamed Abdelbaky and David Schenker
On October 31, Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) will hold its sixth party conference. Coming a year prior to the November 2010 parliamentary elections, the NDP will use the conference to articulate its platform and campaign agenda. Broadly speaking, much of the party’s electoral strategy has already emerged, via Cairo’s current policies of coopting and harassing the Islamist and democratic opposition. More than decisionmaking, the conference will serve as an NDP vehicle to attempt to legitimate and further ensconce the party as Egypt’s ruling elite for the next generation. In this regard, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s son Gamal, the deputy secretary general of the NDP and heir apparent to the presidency, is sure to feature prominently in the conference proceedings.
Background
Hosni Mubarak has served as president of Egypt and leader of the NDP since the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981. Since then, and throughout Mubarak’s twenty-eight-year tenure as chief executive, the NDP has served as Egypt’s ruling party. Although there are twenty-three other political parties in Egypt, the only group with significant popular support is the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Since the MB is technically illegal, however, candidates are not permitted to stand for elections under the MB flag.
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