The Supreme Administrative Court on Saturday ruled to disband the National Democratic Party (NDP), which held power throughout the reign of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, a judicial source said. The court ordered the confiscation of the NDP's assets and the restoration of its headquarters to the state. The same source told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the court has said the party, established in 1978, violated the principles that formed the cornerstone of its operations, which led to social and political corruption and undermined the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Egyptian constitution. The party monopolized power and sought to weaken oppositional political powers and parties, suppress freedoms and detain activists with opposing political views, and discriminate between Egyptian people, the source added. The court said the party used governmental security bodies to crack down on its opponents. The source said pointed out that the dissolution of the NDP does not mean its members cannot form new parties. The NDP was recently renamed the “New National Democratic Party” and Talaat al-Sadat, the nephew of former president Sadat, assumed its presidency. Headed by Mubarak from 1981 to 2011, the party maintained a parliamentary majority through the rigging of elections. Observers say the NDP depended on its connections with state bodies to buy votes, while lacking a clear ideology and the ability to mobilize people. They also say that over the past two decades it relied on thuggery to gather votes and defeat opponents in elections.
