The National Democratic Party's decision that henceforth the chairman of the party will be elected rekindles the debate over the succession of power and growing influence of Gamal Mubarak, reports Gamal Essam El-Din In his capacity as chairman of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) President Hosni Mubarak called on Tuesday for elections to be held with the aim of restructuring the party's hierarchy at village, city and governorate levels. Mubarak also set 3-5 November as the date for the party's ninth general congress. Following Mubarak's call the NDP's six- member steering committee mNet on Tuesday to prepare for the internal poll. "This move is in line with the party's 2002 decision to ensure positions, from the top to the bottom of the party, are rotated. On average, a quarter of party officials should face elections in any twelve-month period," said NDP Secretary-General Safwat El-Sherif. The goal of the changes, he added, was to reinvigorate the party with new blood. The NDP's steering committee announced that an internal commission would be formed to oversee the elections, headed by Zakaria Azmi, chief of the presidential staff and NDP assistant secretary-general for membership and organisational affairs. The elections are expected to be completed ahead of the ninth congress. The congress will itself elect candidates to the party's most senior positions, including the 13 member politburo and 29 member secretarial bureau. And for the first time in the 29 year history of the NDP, the chairmanship of the party will be up for grabs. El-Sherif had surprised observers when, addressing a recent party meeting in Alexandria, he revealed that the congress' agenda would include a ballot for the position of party chairman. Since being founded in 1978, the NDP has appointed its most senior officials. The party's first chairman was former president Anwar El-Sadat. Following his assassination in October 1981, he was succeeded by President Mubarak, who was automatically appointed NDP chairman, a position he has held, unelected, for 26 years. El-Sherif insists the decision to elect the chairman should have come as no surprise. "The party's internal statutes, adopted at the end of eighth congress in September 2002 as part of a long-term process of internal reform, clearly stated that the party's most senior positions would henceforth be subject to a ballot." As a result, he continued, the congress will invite members to vie for the position of party chairman provided candidates can secure the support of 20 per cent of the 5,500 congress members. "Not only is this step part of the NDP's ongoing process of internal democratisation, it is intended to demonstrate to other parties how their leaders can be chosen in a democratic way." Even more surprising, perhaps, was El-Sherif's scathing attack on those he characterised as the party's old-guard - leaders who stand against change. "The party is still riddled with senior officials who resist change and contrive to occupy their positions for life," said El-Sherif, who has long been counted as among the party's most powerful members of the old-guard. El-Sherif's statements were echoed by announcements delivered by other leading officials. Alieddin Hilal, NDP secretary for media affairs, also addressing an NDP meeting in Alexandria, argued many people were qualified to replace President Mubarak as the chairman of the NDP. "Egypt has a lot of people who could succeed Mubarak and lead the country," said Hilal. Such statements, coming from NDP heavyweights, have inevitably rekindled the debate over who will succeed Mubarak. Mohamed El-Sayed Said, a political analyst with Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies (ACPSS), believes the recent announcements open the door for Gamal Mubarak, son of the president, to become a candidate for the NDP's next chairman. "What member of the NDP, other than Gamal Mubarak, would feel in a position to run for the post of chairman?" asks Said. The party's ninth congress, he believes, offers Gamal Mubarak the chance to emerge as the dominant player in domestic politics. "He is already a key policy-maker in many economic and political areas, at both the governmental and NDP level. But he still has to get rid of the old-guard remaining in the ruling party and government circles to become the main player," argues Said, who suggests that Gamal Mubarak, if not nominated for the position of chairman, will most probably emerge from the congress as NDP secretary-general. "There appears to be an obvious intention that the ninth congress rid the NDP of the remaining old-guard, presenting a false picture of reform and clearing the way for Gamal Mubarak and his businessmen supporters to occupy the party's most senior positions." Said also predicts that a government reshuffle is on the cards, in which Ahmed Nazif would be replaced as prime minister by a close associate of Gamal Mubarak, most probably the current minister of trade and industry, Rashid Mohamed Rashid. Pouring cold water on such speculation El-Sherif said he was unaware of any party member other than President Mubarak ready to run for the post of NDP chair. He described those who believe the elections for party chairman will open the door for Gamal Mubarak to inherit power from his father as "living in an imaginary world". The chairman of the party, despite the NDP's self-avowed democratisation drive, will retain the power to select candidates for the majority of seats on the politburo, and eight seats on the secretarial general. The names put forward by the chairman are then put before the congress for ratification. An uncontested election for the chair of the party who then has the final say in who sits on the politburo and secretariat-general is "hardly a lesson in democracy for other political parties," says Said.
