In an unprecedented move, the ruling NDP's congress will be choosing the party's nominee for president. Gamal Essam El-Din reports Gamal Mubarak, the 42-year-old son of President Hosni Mubarak and chairman of the ruling National Democratic Party's (NDP) powerful Policies Committee, said on Monday that -- for the first time in the party's history -- NDP leaders at both the central and regional levels would be choosing the party's presidential nominee. Once the Presidential Elections Committee opens the door for nominations, the NDP will begin holding meetings to pick the party's nominee, Mubarak said. Theoretically, that means that any number of party members might place themselves in contention for the coveted presidential candidate slot. According to internal NDP regulations, the ruling party's congress includes the party's politburo (consisting of 14 members), its secretariat-general (25), NDP deputies in the People's Assembly and Shura Council (around 650), the Policy Secretariat (around 125), the party's six main secretariats, and leading members of the party in 26 governorates, as well as 15 per cent of the party's general members. In all, the party's congress includes almost 5000 members. They are the same people who are tasked with choosing the party's chairman. Mubarak, addressing the party's Higher Policy Council, also said the NDP was busy putting together its electoral platform. "This programme," he said, "will tackle key public issues, atop which are unemployment, wages, services and political reform." The NDP firmly believes, he said, that additional constitutional reforms must be pursued, party politics stimulated, and the role of civil society organisations enhanced. Mubarak said that the party was fully prepared to participate in competitive, direct and multi-candidate elections. Gamal Mubarak's comments mean that the much-anticipated announcement regarding President Hosni Mubarak's intention to run for a fifth presidential term may not emerge the moment the door for nominations is opened -- as was previously expected. The party's leading members at both the central and regional levels will have to meet first and cast their vote for the candidate they want. NDP Secretary-General Safwat El-Sherif indicated that this new, more democratic system of choosing a candidate replaces the old method involving collective recommendations for a single candidate. "The old way was only applicable when we chose a president via a yes-or-no referendum," he said. El-Sherif said the NDP would be dedicated, in the next stage, to choosing its candidate, and then rallying behind him as elections drew near. Opposition leaders reacted to the NDP's announcement with dismay, arguing that the ruling party was trying to waste as much time as possible before officially nominating President Mubarak. "I think that this new tactic is aimed at making things more difficult for the opposition," said Tagammu Party Deputy Chairman Abul-Ezz El-Hariri. "Just because the NDP has decided to choose its candidate in a democratic manner," he said, "does not mean they had to wait this long to do so." El-Hariri thinks the ruling party's main goal was to "confuse the opposition -- keep us in the dark until the last moment." Nasserist Party chairman Diaaeddin Dawoud told Al-Ahram Weekly that the NDP's method of selecting its presidential candidate would only give the world a false impression that it is a democratic party. "But we all know that there is not a single member of the NDP who will dare to compete against President Mubarak for the nomination." NDP leaders responded to the criticism by saying that even if President Mubarak ended up being the sole choice, the important thing was that the process be democratic. The NDP Higher Policy Council meeting also included a bit of what appeared to be preliminary campaigning; specifically, a discussion of the necessity of expanding the national health insurance system so that all citizens are covered. During his recent visit to the southern governorate of Sohag, President Hosni Mubarak said that within five years, the national health insurance system should provide coverage for all Egyptians. To meet this objective, said council spokesman Mohamed Kamal, a family health insurance fund will be set up. At present, Kamal said, the system covers only 52.1 per cent of the overall population.
