The list of ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections includes nine cabinet ministers, three of whom are existing MPs: Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros Ghali, in the Cairo north district of Shubra; Minister of Social Solidarity Ali Meselhi in the Sharqiya governorate district of Abu Kebeir; and Minister of Military Production in Helwan Sayed Meshaal. Five new faces include Minister of State for Parliamentary and Legal Affairs Moufid Shehab in Alexandria's Moharrem Bey district; Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohamed Nasreddin Allam in Sohag's Juhayna district; Minister of Local Development Mohamed Abdel-Salam El-Mahgoub in Alexandria's Al-Raml district; Minister of Agriculture Amin Abaza in the Sharqiya governorate district of Al-Tilien, Minister of State for International Cooperation Fayza Abul-Naga in Port Said and Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmi in Nasr City. Topping the list of NDP candidates are also septuagenarian old guard politicians such as Fathi Sorour, 78, speaker of the People's Assembly since 1990 and NDP candidate for the South Cairo district of Al-Sayeda Zeinab, and Zakaria Azmi, 74, chief of presidential staff and NDP candidate for East Cairo's district of Al-Zeitoun since 1987. Gamal Essam El-Din profiles some of the prominent candidates. Man of action Ahmed Ezz, the NDP's secretary for organisational affairs, is a business tycoon who has built up an empire of companies. Ezz owns a large steel manufacturing plant in Sadat Industrial City and is also the majority shareholder in the Alexandria Iron and Steel Company of Al-Dekheila. Consequently, Ezz has been a favoured target of critics who accuse him of exploiting his influential NDP positions to promote his business interests and exercise a tight monopoly on the steel market in Egypt. Ezz also owns the famous ceramics company, Al-Jawhara (The Gem). Ezz is an associate of Gamal Mubarak, 47, chair of the influential NDP's Policies Committee. Ezz and Gamal joined the NDP's general secretariat in 2000. Also in 2000, Ezz became a member of parliament after he won the seat of Menouf, to which the Sadat Industrial City belongs. Ezz was soon appointed by the NDP as chairman of the parliament's Budget Committee. Ezz won Menouf again in 2005, retaining his chairmanship of the Budget Committee. In 2005, Ezz played a key role in President Hosni Mubarak's presidential campaign. As a result, he was promoted to the influential position of the NDP secretary for organisational affairs, replacing NDP heavyweight Kamal El-Shazli. Ezz has been an active NDP member in parliament, keeping NDP deputies in line and standing up to opposition MPs, especially those affiliated to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. His role was especially clear when Ezz made sure that NDP deputies rallied behind 34 NDP-inspired constitutional amendments and rubber-stamping President Mubarak's decree extending the state of emergency for three years. Rumours were rampant that the voting had cost Ezz a large amount of money accommodating more than 200 NDP deputies in a number of five-star hotels near parliament. Some call it "diplomacy of the carrot" in contrast with El-Shazli's diplomacy of the stick. Ezz has frequently been subject to negative press, including recently when he exercised influence in parliament in order to veto a government-inspired amendment aimed at stiffening penalties on monopolistic practices. Some observers believe that Ezz's influence places him as the NDP's third man, next to President Hosni Mubarak and his son Gamal. In the 2005 parliamentary elections, Ezz won largely thanks to hundreds of workers in his steel and ceramics production factories in Sadat Industrial City -- which belongs to Menouf district -- voting for him. The chief Zakaria Azmi, 72, is the NDP's deputy for Zeitoun district in eastern Cairo and the chief of the presidential staff. He joined the NDP immediately following its establishment in August 1978, and was elected to the People's Assembly in 1987 and appointed chief of the presidential staff in 1989. Azmi was one of the army officers who stood behind late president Anwar El-Sadat in his conflict with Nasserist rivals in 1971. This earned him in 1975 the post of manager of the office of the presidential chief of staff. He became more involved in politics when he was elected in 1979 as deputy chairman of the Cairo Municipal Council. His overtly critical approach in People's Assembly debates won him the title "representative of the NDP opposition wing in parliament". Azmi has spoken out against the terms of US economic grants to Egypt, corruption in city councils and pollution in Cairo. In addition to his influential positions serving the executive, and in the People's Assembly, Azmi was appointed NDP assistant secretary- general for organisational, membership, financial and administrative affairs in 2002. He is well known for standing against the ambitions of businessmen close to Gamal Mubarak, chairman of the NDP's Policies Committee. For example, Azmi was involved in a confrontation with Mohamed Abul-Enein, a business tycoon and a member of the NDP's general secretariat. The showdown was described in newspapers as "a confrontation between money and power". Opposition forces believe that while critical in parliament, Azmi remains a loyalist to the regime of President Mubarak and the ruling NDP. He strongly defended 2007's 34 amendments to the constitution, which stripped judges of their supervising powers during elections and put greater powers in the hands of the president. Azmi always wins the Zeitoun election unopposed, and this year is expected to be no exception. The Iron Lady Amal Othman, 76, is the longest serving female cabinet minister in Egypt's modern history. She has been actively involved in politics for over a quarter of a century. During her political career, Othman became the first woman to serve as deputy speaker of the People's Assembly after holding the ministerial portfolio of social affairs for some 20 years (from 1977 to 1997). Her membership of parliament began when she was one of 10 people appointed by late president Anwar El-Sadat in 1977. Othman, a professor at Cairo University's Faculty of Law, became politically active in 1974 when she joined the defunct Arab Socialist Union, the nation's sole political party at the time. When Sadat established the NDP in 1978, Othman was one of 20 women who joined the party's ranks. She first ran for election in 1979 in Giza's district of Doqqi and won unopposed. She was later chosen to serve as the NDP's secretary for women's affairs. On February 2000, Othman was appointed to the NDP's politburo and she has been a member of it ever since. Othman has been the elected chairman of parliament's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee since 2005. Opposition groups accuse the NDP and security forces of systematically rigging elections in Doqqi district in favour of Othman. The Muslim Brotherhood charges that Othman was elected fraudulently at the expense of its candidates, especially former supreme guide Maamoun El-Hodeibi. The group also charges that Othman makes use of her parliamentary positions to serve the legislative agenda of the ruling NDP. Othman is a loyalist to the regime of President Mubarak. She defends herself by accusing the Muslim Brotherhood of doing its best to tarnish the image of the ruling NDP and its leading deputies. Othman also doubles as a practising lawyer. At present, she is a lawyer for Hisham Talaat Mustafa, a former NDP business tycoon recently on trial charged with inciting a bodyguard to kill a Lebanese singer. In the 2005 parliamentary elections, Othman gained around 120,000 votes. This year, she faces an uphill battle, not only to win the NDP's nomination, but also to win the Doqqi election. For the workers Hussein Megawer, 73, has been chairman of the General Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions (GEFTU) since 2005. He has also been a member of the People's Assembly since 1990, representing Maadi in the governorate of Helwan (South Cairo) for the NDP. Megawer has been the elected chairman of the People's Assembly Labour and Workforce Committee since 2005. He is also a member of the NDP's general secretariat and Policies Committee. Opposition activists believe that Megawer's loyalty to the Mubarak regime and the ruling NDP has been the primary reason behind him assuming high-profile positions, especially as chairman of the GEFTU. Some argue, however, that Megawer has walked a tightrope between his loyalty to the NDP and defending the rights of workers who have suffered under NDP- adopted privatisation policies. Megawer has organised several hearing sessions on the problems of privatisation, meeting with workers who staged street protests in front of the People's Assembly. Megawer exerted pressure on the government, managing to force the Ministry of Investment to abandon the policy of selling public sector assets to local and foreign investors. He also championed fair pensions for workers that join early retirement programmes. Among opposition circles, Megawer is unpopular. He decided to postpone the GEFTU's elections until after the parliamentary elections are held. On Labour Day, Megawer said one million workers are ready to support President Mubarak for a new presidential term, beginning 2011. Megawer also attacked Mohamed El-Baradei, the former director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, on grounds that he is against reserving a 50 per cent quota of seats in parliament for the representatives of workers and farmers. El-Baradei argued that this quota was exploited by the NDP not to defend the rights of workers and farmers but to ensure that its leaders remain in office. In the 2005 parliamentary elections, Megawer won in a second round run-off.
