As the ruling NDP prepares for its eighth congress next month, Gamal Essam El-Din explores how far the party's internal reforms will lead to a radical restructuring of its ranks Click to view caption At a symposium organised by the International Book Forum on 31 July, Osama El- Baz, President Hosni Mubarak's chief political adviser, was taken aback by a delicate question. The question, posed by TV journalist Moufid Fawzi, was: "Is Gamal Mubarak, son of President Hosni Mubarak and a member of the National Democratic Party (NDP) general secretariat, strong enough to stand up to 'the NDP's big fish'?" El-Baz, who described the question as "a good one", affirmed that "the NDP is currently witnessing a kind of conflict between its old guard and the younger generation." He said, "Gamal Mubarak is a young man who stands for modern thinking, while 'the others', who stand for the old way of thinking, are in favour of maintaining certain political trends." He was quick to point out, however, that the conflict does not mean that the two camps stand opposed in a sharp confrontation. "The NDP has many older members who are in favour of modern thinking, while Gamal Mubarak is unquestionably joined by many in espousing a new style of thinking and action," El-Baz asserted. El-Baz made his comments at a time when the NDP's internal reforms were reaching a final phase ahead of the party's eighth congress scheduled for 15 September. This phase comes a year and a half after the initiation of a process of internal reform that has included holding elections to fill party positions at the village, city and governorate levels. Gamal Mubarak, who is considered the driving force behind these internal reforms, delivered an overview of the measures taken and the agenda for the future at a meeting of the general secretariat on Monday. At the meeting, which was attended by old guard members including NDP Secretary-General Youssef Wali and his two assistants Kamal El-Shazli and Safwat El-Sherif, Mubarak spoke of the necessity of reformulating the party's ideology, modifying its organisational structure and internal regulations. During the meeting, the general secretariat agreed that the congress should be held every five years, instead of every two years. Towards revitalising the party, the secretariat decided that each year a quarter of party positions should come up for renewal. Members also discussed holding elections for the party's general secretariat (25 members) and politburo (12 members) -- an unprecedented move in the party's 24-year history. On Tuesday, the NDP's chairman, President Hosni Mubarak, met members of the general secretariat to discuss the party's action plan and agenda of reforms. According to El-Sherif, President Mubarak endorsed all the internal reform measures that have been taken so far. However, El-Sherif added, President Mubarak urged that the coming period see the party leaders in closer contact with the masses so that they are better able to express the people's wishes and aspirations. At next month's congress, President Mubarak is expected to be elected NDP chairman for the seventh time. Political observers speculate NDP elections will engender a significant leadership shake- up. Topping the anticipated changes, observers predict, will be the election of Gamal Mubarak as secretary-general, replacing Wali. One of these observers, writing in a national daily paper on 7 August, argued that a major reason young people are disinterested in joining political parties is that the organisations are tightly controlled by old guard figures whose political history goes back to the era of one-party political system under Nasser. "The old guard's formative political experiences make them apprehensive about adopting democratising reforms. The NDP, which has the lion's share of old guard members, has to rid itself of the legatees of Nasser's one-party system who are keen to maintain the status quo", the observer said. For their part, members of the NDP old guard, aware of the mounting criticism directed at them, are making statements to the effect that they welcome the wave of reform. Safwat El-Sherif, NDP's assistant secretary- general and information minister, said the NDP has succeeded in infusing its ranks with fresh blood. "The recent internal elections produced an ideal mix of young and old. I believe that political parties whose ranks lack a range of generations must ultimately be afflicted with functional sclerosis." Kamal El-Shazli, NDP's secretary-general for organisational affairs and minister of state for parliamentary affairs, highlighted that the recent internal elections resulted in 60 per cent of the party leadership at village and town and city levels comprising person under 40 years of age. He also noted that the NDP's women membership has recently passed the 10,000 mark. In defence of the party's senior members, El-Shazli said that many of them were "indispensable". Informed sources at the People's Assembly indicate, however, that the NDP's old guard is in a race against time, hoping to keep its most loyal MPs in the party's top offices. In this respect, sources said, the NDP old guard is obstructing a basic reform, namely, ending the practice of appointing MPs as head of the party's governorate and city bureaus. Sources said that the younger generation of NDP members believes that MPs used these posts to secure their personal interests at the expense of performing well in parliament and enhancing the party's popularity in their constituencies. Some opposition newspapers have recently published memos submitted by NDP members to Gamal Mubarak which complained that the recent internal elections were manipulated by MPs to ensure that the results favoured "their men". In contrast, members of the old guard have said that stripping MPs of their leading positions would weaken the party. The conflict between the old guard and new generation is not confined to the NDP, but afflicts Egyptian political parties across the ideological spectrum. The Liberal Party, for example, has 11 of its leading members entangled in a fight over the party's leadership post. One of the contenders, long-time appointed member of the Shura Council, Mohamed Farid Zakaria, believes that the leader's is rightfully his, "I'm the party's second historical leader." Zakaria was number two man to party founder Mustafa Kamel Murad who died in August 1998. Selim Azooz, a young member and one of the 11 contenders, argues that the party's senior leaders made use of their positions to secure personal gain. "The party is now in dire need of fresh blood to reform its institutions and attract new members," Azooz said. The 11 contenders were scheduled to hold a meeting yesterday to respond to the Political Parties Committee's request of 8 June, asking them to elect a chairman within three months. The committee also called upon members of the 26-year-old Misr Arab Party to elect a chairman to replace its former chairman Gamal Rabie who died in April. Among the contenders for the post are MP Ayman Nour, of the younger generation, and long-time politician Wahid Al-Aqsori. Chairmen of most of the major opposition political parties are in their late seventies or early eighties. The death of a chairman has on many occasions led to internal disputes between old and young members over leadership positions.
