The pro-Gamal Mubarak campaign continued for the second week, with organisers taking it to cyberspace and densely populated Nile Delta governorates, reports Gamal Essam El-Din Although one year away, campaigns for the presidential elections have heated up. A large number of young people have stepped up a campaign aimed at supporting a presidential bid by Gamal Mubarak, the 47-year-old son of President Hosni Mubarak and chairman of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) influential Policies Committee, in 2011. Supporters of Gamal Mubarak, or members of the so-called Popular Coalition for the Support of Gamal Mubarak (PCSGM), turned to popular social networking websites Facebook and Twitter to urge people to say "yes" for Gamal Mubarak and "participate" in voting for him as president of Egypt in 2011. Going hand-in-hand with the above, PCSGM members have also kicked off a campaign for supporting Gamal Mubarak in the densely populated Nile Delta governorates. On 6 August, a group of between 30 and 50 members toured the Nile Delta governorate of Sharqiya to gather signatures in support of the nomination of Gamal Mubarak from ordinary citizens. They were led by PCSGM Coordinator Magdi El-Kordi, 54, a former member of the leftist Tagammu Party until he was expelled for his support of Gamal Mubarak. The organisers distributed tens of posters featuring Gamal Mubarak and bearing the words "Participate with us in supporting Gamal Mubarak". PCSGM leaders toured some Sharqiya villages and cities without visiting Zagazig, the governorate's capital. El-Kordi said citizens supporting Gamal Mubarak were required to show their identity cards first to ensure the validity of their signatures. "Those who approve providing their signatures should write that they have decided that PCSGM act on their behalf in supporting the nomination of Gamal Mubarak," said El-Kordi. El-Kordi did not give any specific figures about those who have already signed, but said the number is in the thousands and is increasing all the time. According to El-Kordi, PCSGM has printed 200,000 copies of forms to be signed by supporters of Gamal Mubarak as an initial step and until more than five million signatures are collected in the lead up to presidential elections. He also indicated that, "a CD featuring the achievements of Gamal Mubarak and bearing the title The embattled Gamal Mubarak will be distributed among supporting citizens." The second station stop for the PCSGM campaign was Mansoura, the capital of the governorate of Daqahliya. El-Kordi said tens of PCSGM young supporters plastered hundreds of Gamal Mubarak's posters everywhere in the densely populated city of Mansoura. "The posters are highly welcomed by ordinary citizens," El-Kordi asserted. Mansoura is the birthplace of Ayman Nour, leader of the Ghad Party who has led a ferocious opposition campaign against President Mubarak and his son Gamal since 2005. El-Kordi said the PCSGM would be soon opening offices in other governorates until it covers all of Egypt. Supporters of the pro- Gamal Mubarak campaign were keen to emphasise that, "their support for Gamal Mubarak is motivated by admiration for his liberal policies" and that their campaign "is just volunteer work" and that they do not receive "money from any NDP sources". According to El-Kordi, PCSGM was founded three months ago and now has 17 offices in six governorates (Cairo, Helwan, Beni Sweif, Sharqiya, Daqahliya and Beheira). "We focus on densely populated cities, villages and towns at first and this is why we began with Cairo's popular districts where hundreds of posters of Gamal Mubarak were distributed," El-Kordi said. The reaction of NDP leaders to the PCSGM campaign remains ambiguous and even divided. Some NDP prominent businessmen took many by surprise when they announced their full support for the nomination of Gamal Mubarak in 2011's presidential elections. Ibrahim Kamel, a member of the NDP secretariat-general and an associate of Gamal Mubarak, told independent newspapers two weeks ago, "the NDP would most likely give its support for the nomination of Gamal Mubarak in 2011's presidential elections in the event that the NDP's leader President Hosni Mubarak, opted to stand down." Kamel, however, denied that the NDP is involved in promoting the PCSGM. Hossam Badrawi, a leading member of the NDP, emphasised that "Gamal Mubarak would be the natural candidate of the NDP in 2011's presidential elections if President Mubarak decided to step down and declined to run." Speculation is also rife that some NDP officials close to Gamal Mubarak, such as Mohamed Kamal, the NDP's secretary for training and indoctrination, have already formed a special committee tasked with giving financial and administrative support to the PCSGM. Kamal, however, denied that he has any role in supporting pro-Gamal Mubarak posters and the cyberspace campaign. According to Kamal, Gamal Mubarak has no relation with Facebook groups that support his candidacy for the presidential elections. He added that discussing the NDP's candidate for the presidential elections is premature. The NDP's old guard leaders, however, have continued issuing vehement denials that the NDP stands behind the PCSGM. The NDP's secretary-general, Safwat El-Sherif, said the NDP is currently preoccupied with preparing its platform and list of candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for November 2010. Alieddin Hilal, the NDP's secretary for media affairs, said: "It is rude to discuss the NDP's nominee for 2011's presidential elections right now, while President Mubarak is still on top of the party's leadership." The conflicting statements issued by NDP members on Gamal Mubarak's nomination was interpreted by opposition activists as reflecting serious divisions among the party's old and new guard. Hassan Nafaa, a Cairo University politics professor and coordinator of the National Assembly for Change (NAC), led by former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed El-Baradei, said "Businessmen and young leaders close to Gamal Mubarak are pushing for his candidacy while old guard politicians, receiving their powers from the 82-year-old President Hosni Mubarak, want to remain in their positions and continue enjoying their privileges." The PCSGM is the last in a series of door- knocking campaigns aimed at collecting signatures from ordinary citizens. The NAC kicked off a campaign two months ago with the objective of amending the constitution and allowing independent figures like El-Baradei to submit a presidential bid. Political activist Ayman Nour also launched a campaign aimed at disrupting Gamal Mubarak's campaign, under the title "Egypt is too big for you". Nour says that his campaign drew 2,000 supporters in one week. A fourth campaign, aimed at supporting the nomination of Hamdeen Sabahi in the presidential elections, leader of the pan-Arab Karama Party, said it has collected 10,000 supporting signatures.
