Gamal Essam El-Din reports on the opening of the NDP's campaign for the municipal elections The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) has embarked on a series of public rallies intended to drum up support ahead of the 8 April municipal elections. On Monday Gamal Mubarak, President Hosni Mubarak's younger son and the head of the NDP Policies Committee, was in Alexandria to address party officials on the elections and current issues. Speaking at a public rally in Alexandria's Al-Ittihad Sporting Club, he said municipal elections came at a critical stage in Egypt's move towards democracy and prosperity. Gamal Mubarak called on party members to stand up to hostile media campaigns. "On satellite channels and in some newspapers we face a lot of attacks and need to be more assertive in containing the virulent criticism that is being levelled." He emphasised that the NDP believes political and economic openness is the best option for modernising Egypt and there can be no return to the socialist policies of the 1960s. NDP Secretary-General Safwat El-Sherif indicated that the 2005 presidential platform of NDP chairman Hosni Mubarak would be highlighted during the NDP's public rallies ahead of elections. In the course of these gatherings, he added, party officials will take charge of explaining the latest achievements of President Mubarak's programme. "They will emphasise how the programme aims to secure social justice and prioritises meeting the needs of poor and limited-income classes," he said, revealing that the Policies Committee had already compiled "a book of achievements" that will be showcased during the rallies. Joining forces with El-Sherif, NDP Secretary for Organisational Affairs Ahmed Ezz said, "Serving Citizens First" will be the slogan of the party's public gatherings, emphasising the party's concern in meeting the basic daily needs of citizens, especially subsidised bread." NDP leaders spared no effort this week as they began refuting charges that the party is seeking to secure 95 per cent of seats in municipal elections unopposed. El-Sherif, in an interview with Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (Middle East) radio, said he anticipated candidates standing unopposed in no more than 30 per cent of seats. He insisted the NDP's determination to field candidates in every seat was a reflection of "a dynamic party with highly efficient cadres ready to contest seats at all levels". He pointed out that opposition parties such as the Wafd and Tagammu had been able to field large numbers of candidates. "This means that we are going to have competitive elections and that the NDP is ready to compete against the candidates of other parties." President Mubarak, he stressed, is in no doubt that Egypt needs a healthy, competitive political life. El-Sherif was speaking against a backdrop of growing complaints from opposition parties and the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood that security and administrative obstacles were deliberately placed in the way of their candidates who are standing for nomination in local elections. The opposition's claims, he said, were false. "Registration in elections was supervised by impartial committees which applied the rules to all parties, including the NDP." In response to Brotherhood attacks El-Sherif emphasised that, "the constitution is clear in that all legal opposition parties are welcome to compete in elections and anyone whose registration papers were rejected can resort to the courts." NDP leaders also deny suggestions that its list of official candidates reveals divisions within the party's ranks. Gamal Mubarak said the process of preparing the list of candidates had been a success. "It is to be expected that some members, when finding they have not been included on the official list, should complain," he said. But while the party will investigate individual complaints, he stressed that personal ambition could not take precedent over collective interests. The number of candidates unhappy with the final selection was never more than 10 per cent of the total, said El-Sherif, and has subsequently fallen to around one per cent. He accused independent newspapers, some of which said as many as 860 members had resigned in protest at what they characterised as Ezz's exclusion of long-term loyalists from the official lists, of exaggerating the figures. Some NGOs, such as the Arab Institution for the Support of Civil Society, reported that NDP MPs had complained that many successful candidates were relatives of the chairmen of provincial party offices and other senior local officials. Such reports, said El-Sherif, were based more on malice than fact, levelled by organisations that were seeking to incite sedition within the NDP and drive a wedge between its members. Ezz said candidates were selected solely on the grounds of their ability to represent their constituents. Gihad Auda, professor of political science in Helwan University and a member of the NDP Policies Committee, told Al-Ahram Weekly that 82,000 NDP members had competed for a place on the official lists that fielded 52,000 candidates. "This means that there was difficulty in choosing the best candidate," Auda explained. It is only natural that, "the NDP should face protests because each of the candidates thought themselves best qualified". Auda believes that it is a positive sign that the NDP placed 6,000 women on its list of candidates. "It translates the party's long-term desire to encourage the participation of women in political life," he said. On Monday Information Minister Anas El-Fiqi said local television channels would cover local election campaigns until 8 April, interviewing a wide range of candidates. Press conferences will also be held on election day to keep correspondents abreast of the latest developments.
