The Finance Ministry has announced that in two months, it will have finished confiscating real estate that belonged to the disbanded National Democratic Party (NDP). It added that the operation was delayed due to parliamentary elections. An Egyptian court in April ordered the dissolution of former President Hosni Mubarak's political party, meeting a demand of the pro-democracy movement whose protests ended his 30-year authoritarian rule. The court also ordered the liquidation of NDP assets, and the return of the party's funds to the state. The ministry has sequestered 400 premises so far, which is 10 percent of the total. The properties are estimated to be worth LE5 billion in real estate value. The confiscations began last June in implementation of a court order issued to that effect. The ministry said it would give real estate that had been confiscated by the party back to its original owners. The prime minister would decide what to do with the rest. Until the outbreak of the 25 January revolution, the NDP had dominated Egyptian politics since its founding by Mubarak's predecessor, Anwar Sadat, in 1978. For many, the party epitomized the graft and abuse of power that helped ignite the protests that forced Mubarak to resign in February. Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
