CAIRO: The April 6 Youth Movement, an activist group on the social networking website Facebook, are organizing an online convention at the same time as the National Democratic Party's (NDP) annual convention held in November. The NDP's annual convention is scheduled to start on Saturday Nov. 1 and ends on Nov. 3. This is the fifth annual conference for the party, which will be held under the slogan "New thinking for the future of our country. The movement's online convention will include an explanation and discussion of the NDP's activities and the decisions made throughout the ruling party's three-day convention. Mohamed Abdel Aziz, founding member in the April 6 Youth Movement, told local press that they are also planning to launch an online civil campaign under the slogan "Do Not Believe Them. The campaign's objective is "waking up the Egyptian people from the manipulation of the NDP members through their imaginary roles and accomplishments, said Abdel Aziz. The internet, especially Facebook, is increasingly becoming a forum for political discussion among Egypt's youth. According to political analyst Amr Hashem from Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, this is the only channel for political participation available for the Egyptian youth. "There is no room for the participation of the youth in politics so they had to find other means where they can express their opinion on their country's politics, he said. "However, the online convention will be nothing but a channel to scandalize and oppose the National Democratic Party, it will not influence or change anything, Hashem said. The youth will have room to participate in Egypt's politics only if the country "changes from the oppressive police state it has been since July 23, 1952 [the Egyptian Revolution] and becomes a civil state, said Hashem.
