A member of the the formerly-ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), Mohamed Sheta, said the party is getting ready for the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for September. Sheta told Al-Masry Al-Youm that he hopes it will win a high rate of representation in Parliament. He criticized demands that the party dissolve, saying the demands of the 20,000 protesters in Tahrir Square on Friday are not the demands of 85 million Egyptians. Sheta said that the NDP now believes in partisan pluralism, in contrast to its beliefs during the former regime. Sheta expected that the elections will reveal if people disapprove the ‘new' NDP, and whether they believe it has indeed been cleared of corruption or not. Observers say that the Muslim Brotherhood and the NDP may profit most in the upcoming elections because they are the two most experienced and organized political groups. A referendum last month passed a package of constitutional amendments that was supported by both groups. 77.2 percent of Egyptians voted "yes", despite calls by opposition groups to reject the amendments and draft a new constitution instead. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
