The NDP's 'new' vision was more organisational than ideological. Omayma Abdel-Latif reviews the party's document on platform and internal regulations Click to view caption The National Democratic Party (NDP) decided during its congress this week that its members should elect the party's politbureau (14 members), general-secretariat (25 members) and chairman, a position for which members will have the right to run. Although party members elected their politbureau and general-secretariat at this week's congress, their first opportunity to elect their chairman will be when the next congress is held in five years' time. Other changes include the frequency of elections for other party posts, the creation of new positions and some changes to the party's ideology, particularly as it relates to the economy. Filling the party's highest posts by election was the most significant structural change introduced to the NDP's internal regulations statute that the party discussed during its eighth congress which opened on Sunday and ran for three days. Commenting on the election of the general-secretariat and politbureau, Gamal Mubarak, a member of the general- secretariat and the son of President Hosni Mubarak, said, "The aim behind the introduction of such an article in the party's internal regulations is to enlarge the participation base and to give the party members the right to voice their opinions." The change to the regulations for filling top-level posts comes within the context of a series of amendments to modernise the party. Gamal Mubarak, who has been a major proponent of party reform, spoke on Sunday about the timing of the changes. "Egypt has undergone radical changes in all aspects of life, therefore the ruling party should cope with those changes by reconsidering some of its founding principles and outlining a new vision for the future." Among the major organisational changes that party members agreed to were that the congress will be held every five years instead of every two years and that elections for party positions be staggered so that a quarter of its offices are elected each year. Alongside existing offices, a number of new positions were created. At the top of these were a deputy chairman for internal affairs and a deputy chairman for external affairs. Also noteworthy is the creation of five new secretariats. One of these is for policies, another for financial and administrative affairs, a third for raising political awareness, a fourth for local municipalities and the fifth for ethics and legal affairs. These entities join existing secretariats for media, workers and farmers, women and the business sector. The policies secretariat will be primarily concerned with the reformulation of the policies adopted by the party. The secretariat and the sub-committees affiliated to it will be responsible for formulating proposals for legislation and policies before submitting them to the Parliament. Party insiders say that the establishment of this secretariat is aimed at rationalising the interaction between the party and the government. Its establishment, say insiders, will institutionalise the relationship between the prime minister and the party. The administrative and financial affairs secretariat, which is to be headed by Zakariya Azmi, a member of the general- secretariat, will, no doubt, capture the spotlight in January 2003 when it is scheduled to announce its new financial statute and when party membership fees increase from 60 piastres to LE2 annually. The increase should go a long way towards improving the party's financial situation given that it has more than two million members, according to its own statistics. The ethics and legal affairs secretariat will be affiliated to the office of the party chairman and headed by a member of the general-secretariat. It will establish code of ethics and will determine punitive measures to be taken against those who violate party rules. In contrast to the wide-ranging organisational changes, the vision for the party's platform remains largely unchanged. According to party documents, the NDP still derives its legitimacy from past regimes. It identifies with the system set up by the 1952 revolution and in the era of former President Anwar El- Sadat. The new vision is, consequently, made up of a mix of orientations that could generally be described as centrist. The new literature and discourse of the NDP pledges to uphold democracy and the rule of law, pluralism and freedom of expression. Al-Ahram newspaper reported on Tuesday that President Hosni Mubarak urged both the Shura Council and the Peoples' Assembly, the country's upper and lower houses of parliament, respectively, to examine the feasibility of modifying the electoral system. Notably, the new programme left untouched the matter of electoral laws, the emergency laws and made no mention whatsoever of the concept of the peaceful rotation of power. With respect to the party's economic orientation, the NDP affirmed long-advocated national principles like support for the social contract, the rights of workers and farmers and independent development. The party did however indicate its support for a vigorous and dominant private sector that upholds its social responsibilities. In a similar vein, the NDP stressed the need to encourage the business class, whose reputation, it said, had been tarnished by those it referred to as "the corrupt few". In a notable shift, the party did, however, call for the privatisation of key sectors such as healthcare. Related stories: Shake-up of NDP The dawn of a new era Only a beginning Countdown to 'New Thinking' 12 - 18 September 2002 House cleaning 5 - 11 September 2002
