The National Democratic Party (NDP) will on Wednesday begin preparing for its seventh annual conference slated for 25-26 December. The conference was originally scheduled to be held in November but was postponed until the conclusion of the parliamentary elections, in which the ruling party took 420 of the 508 parliamentary seats up for grabs. Observers believe the upcoming conference must outline how the rift between the pro-Hosni Mubarak and pro-Gamal Mubarak camps within the party has been addressed. The camp supporting Gamal took the upper hand following the introduction of liberal economic reforms in 2004. News reports point to an internal party struggle between supporters for the presidential bids of, respectively, incumbent President Hosni Mubarak and his son Gamal, who heads the influential policies secretariat. It is widely believed that Gamal, 46, is the most likely successor to Hosni, who will turn 83 in May. However, leaders from the NDP say the senior Mubarak will run for a sixth term. Posters supporting Gamal for the presidency were recently seen hanging in streets around Cairo. Observers however say the posters were only intended to test the waters to determine how the Egyptian street would react to the idea of a Gamal presidential bid.
