A different mood emerged at a recent press conference where bluntly responded to questions about his political future, reports Gamal Essam El-Din The young head of the ruling National Democratic Party's (NDP) influential Policies Committee appeared unruffled by the rumours that had been spreading in the weeks since Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif's new cabinet had been selected. Opposition newspaper Al-Arabi, for instance, had boldly claimed that Nazif's government was actually 's government, since eight members of the NDP's Policy Secretariat, which the younger Mubarak also heads, had become cabinet ministers. The most pressing rumour, though, was about the 41-year-old president's son's political future. Much speculation about this issue had appeared on the pages of the local and international press; in a unique change of dynamic, Mubarak chose the first meeting between Nazif and the Policies Committee to respond to some of the press's inquiries. For the first time, journalists from international news agencies had been invited to attend. More local and foreign reporters were also there. The result was a far greater variety of questions than usual, and definitely more than a few uncommon ones in the mix. And Mubarak himself was relatively open about answering most of the questions. Responding to the oft-asked question on whether or not he is being groomed to succeed his father as Egypt's next president, Mubarak said, "people sometimes go to the extreme of saying that this entire process of reform had a very narrow objective in mind which is, I have to put it very bluntly, promoting my political career." Speaking even more bluntly, he added that "I could not stop people from nominating me". Mubarak also said that he would not allow the barrage of speculation to "stop me from actively participating in political life". Asked why President Mubarak had thus far declined to appoint a vice-president, said only President Mubarak himself had the answer to that question. Much of the press conference also revolved around questions about 's influence on the new cabinet. "The fact that some members of the NDP's Policies Committee have become members of the new cabinet is something to be proud of," he said. Since the NDP has been attacked for years for its lack of young leaders, Mubarak wondered "why some insist on that kind of criticism just as reform at the NDP is beginning to bear fruit in the form of producing a new generation of young leaders capable of joining the government and topping executive posts". He said the party currently has "a clear agenda, and a new performance style aimed at creating a positive system of cooperation between the government and the majority party". At the same time, Mubarak said, "I know that criticism of the NDP will continue, but I accept that as part of political openness." Asked by Al-Ahram Weekly whether there was a possible conflict of interest between Safwat El-Sherif's roles as chairman of the Shura Council and its affiliated Political Parties Committee on the one hand, and El-Sherif's position as the NDP's secretary-general on the other, Mubarak insisted there wasn't. He did open the door, however, to the possibility of leadership posts at the party being shuffled during the annual NDP conference in September. The NDP's internal statutes stipulate that such leadership posts are filled by election at the general party congress (which takes place every five years -- the next one being in 2007). Nevertheless, President Mubarak, in his capacity as NDP chairman, is also empowered to make such appointments between congresses. "We are a flexible, not static, party," said, inspiring some opposition papers to conclude that El-Sherif might be replaced as the party's secretary- general by one of the NDP's younger leaders -- and most probably himself -- at next month's conference. Mubarak also said that amending the political parties law (40/1977) will figure prominently on the party's political reform agenda. While declining to elaborate on these reforms, he insinuated that amendments to the law would mainly deal with the political parties committee membership. Entrusted with licensing political parties, this committee is made up of seven members, four of whom (the Shura Council chairman and the ministers of interior, parliamentary affairs and justice) are members of the NDP. Some opposition figures, like leftist Tagammu Party Secretary-General Hussein Abdel-Razeq, think eliminating the committee altogether would be the only acceptable amendment. "Any other option would be a patch-up job," Abdel-Razeq told the Weekly. Mubarak said the NDP was also aiming to revamp several other laws regulating political life in the country, including those dealing with the exercise of political rights (73/1956), the People's Assembly (38/ 1972), professional syndicates (100/1993), local administration, and non- governmental organisations (NGOs). The Justice Ministry and the Press Syndicate, he said, were also in close coordination in an attempt to rid the penal code of imprisonment penalties for publication offences. would not, however, comment on why "the national dialogue" suggested by President Mubarak at last year's first annual NDP conference had reached an apparent dead end. "I prefer leaving this to the NDP's secretary- general to talk about," he said. Mubarak did say, however, that while preparing amendments to legislation affecting political life, the NDP had intensively engaged in dialogue with experts from opposition parties and independent civil society organisations. "This is something you will notice in particular in the new professional syndicates bill," he said. Moving to foreign affairs, Mubarak said the upcoming conference would also deal extensively with the relationship between Egypt and the United States. Indicating that "there was agreement [within the party] that very friendly and strategic relations between Egypt and the United States must be maintained, there was also general agreement in the party's inner circles that securing Egypt's national interests must be the linchpin of foreign policies in the next period... [meaning] foreign polices must be adjusted to serve Egypt's internal interests." Finally, economic issues would definitely be dominating the discussions to take place in September as well. Mubarak said that according to the latest survey conducted by the NDP, Egyptians are most concerned about economic issues and the performance of public services.
