CAIRO: The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) denied Monday a newspaper report which stated that a cabinet reshuffle was to take place before the party's annual conference in November. Al-Wafd newspaper had reported Monday that a cabinet reshuffle was expected after the Eid holidays prior to the party conference and that the names being put forward were from the party's policies committee headed by Gamal Mubarak. "This is completely untrue, it is nothing more than media headlines, there is no substance to this, NDP member Mohamed Khalil Kwaiteh told Daily News Egypt Monday. The newspaper had cited informed but anonymous sources which claimed that the reshuffle would include instating prominent NDP member Hossam Badrawy as the new Minister of Health, as well as finding a replacement for Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni if he is chosen to head UNESCO. "There had been rumors about Mr. Badrawy before and nothing happened then, Kwaiteh said, "but of course if Mr. Hosni leaves for UNESCO then it that case an appointment will be made. Another aspect the Wafd report touched upon was the desire of what was referred to as the 'old guard' of the ruling party to seek a cabinet post for their Secretary of Organization Ahmed Ezz in a bid to remove him from the daily machinations of the party. The report claimed that steel magnate Ezz refuses to assume a ministerial position because he is aiming for the post of the NDP's Secretary General, a position currently filled by Shoura Council leader Safwat Al-Sherif. Kwaiteh dismissed these notions too, stating, "There is nothing called the old guard and the new guard in the NDP, these are characterizations that no longer exist within the party. We are all working towards one goal. These are not the first reports of clashes between what are termed the old guard comprising Al-Sherif and Kamal Al-Shazly and the 'new guard' supposedly led by Mubarak junior alongside Ahmed Ezz and others like Mohamed Kamal. Opposition lawyer and member of the yet to be established Wasat party Essam Sultan told Daily News Egypt during the NDP's internal elections last month that "There is a civil war in the NDP . and the reason behind it is Ahmed Ezz. Ezz, in his capacity as secretary of organization, was overseeing the somewhat turbulent local council elections which saw accusations of forgery by some members of the party in the governorates and led to the resignation of 140 NDP delegates in protest in Aswan.
