Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Wednesday that only God could know who would succeed him following his 29-year-old rule, the official MENA news agency reported. Dogging a question on his possible successor by an Italian reporter, Mubarak spontaneously said that “only God could know that.” Mubarak was addressing a joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Rome, his first international visit after undergoing gallbladder surgery in Germany in March. Presidential Spokesman Soliman Awad said that future transfer of political power in Egypt is secured by “clear constitutional and legal mechanisms.” “Egypt is a state governed by institutions where the law and the constitution guarantee a stable transfer of power,” Awad was quoted by MENA. “The people are to choose freely from the competing presidential candidates who is the (next) president,” he added. Uncertainty over Egypt's political future is intensifying ahead of presidential polls next year. Mubarak, who turned 82 this month, has not said whether he will run for a sixth term in the presidential elections. In the 2005 presidential elections, the first multi-candidate race in Egypt's modern history, Mubarak had not announced his candidacy but two months prior to the voting date. Many opposition figures have called for Mubarak to appoint a vice-president to reduce chances of a power struggle within the ruling elite. But he has always insisted that the Constitution provides for solid and safe presidential succession. According to the current Egyptian Constitution, any independent candidate must garner the support of at least 250 members of Egypt's elected bodies to be eligible to running for presidency, a condition that is virtually unattainable to any of the country's opposition forces including the Muslim Brotherhood. The 2007 constitutional amendments also stipulate that any potential presidential candidate must be a leading member for at least one year in his party to be allowed to run for the highest executive post which would technically disqualify any military officer from running. Since 1952, all Egypt's presidents came from the military. Observers believe that Mubarak is grooming his 46-year-old son--Gamal—to take over in the upcoming presidential elections.
