CAIRO: The president's son and head of the ruling National Democratic Party's policies secretariat, Gamal Mubarak, will address the views and challenges of Egyptian youth on Aug. 12 in a speech that will be broadcast live online. He will address young students from Egyptian universities and research centers at the party's headquarters in Cairo and is already encouraging youth to send in their questions by email or directly on the website www.sharek.eg. Deadline for receiving questions is set at Tuesday midnight. According to the NDP's official website, the "open dialogue is being organized "to identify the views of young people and their aspirations and ideas on key issues and challenges facing Egypt and discuss the best ways to address them. The function is currently promoted through the leading social networking website Facebook in a bid to diffuse the debate to a wider audience. Experts suggest that such deliberate steps to reach out to the ever-growing, and increasingly political, Egyptian online community mirrors a global trend, which is transforming the way politicians engage with their voters across the world. "The internet is a revolution. It is an increasing source of argument of controversial issues, Nabil Abdel-Fattah, a political analyst at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Daily News Egypt. According to observers, the 2008 United States election campaign was a watershed for the technologization of politics, with candidates utilizing websites such as Twitter and Youtube to win more young votes. Experts insist that in a country like Egypt, where 58 percent of the population is under 25, harnessing the support of the younger segment of society by paying heed to this internet-based trend is more crucial than ever for the ruling party to sustain its political dominance. Facebook has proved to be a particularly popular forum for speculation over whether Gamal Mubarak will take over from his father as president and debate about his suitability for the role. Facebook groups such as "Lovers of Gamal Mubarak , which has a membership number of 3,000; "Who wants Gamal Mubarak for the role ; and "Gamal Mubarak: Yes or No? have served as a launch pad for intense online discussion of Egypt s political future. The spread of political debate through the internet has thrown up issues of security for the ruling NDP. Party members were left flustered by the online calls for general strike on April 6, 2008. "The internet played a great role in the food strike on April 6. The internet was the source of the action which took place, said Abdel-Fattah. Authorities have been clamping down on Egyptians who are using the internet to instigate and organize this kind of activity. Observers have warned that NDP sources will, from now on, closely follow the opinions and comments of web site visitors for security reasons. "This is not a positive development, Abdel-fattah told Daily News Egypt. "The internet is a space of freedom for us. It is a place for us to express our opinions about what is happening here in Egypt. Increased online security is a source of threat for their visitors.
