The Cairo Governorate has officially issued the license to destroy the former headquarters of the dissolved National Democratic Party (NDP), which ruled under the regime of Hosni Mubarak. According to state media, the building has officially been handed over to the Armed Forces Engineering Authority Saturday to proceed with its demolition. The building was set on fire and robbed during the 25 January Revolution, and has not been used since. The land on which the building stands has been a subject of conflict for the Ministry of Antiquities, which repeatedly claimed rights to it. In a cabinet meeting in mid-April, it was decided that the building would be demolished. The headquarter has a strategic location, overlooking the Nile in Downtown Cairo. After the revolution, the NDP was dissolved by court order. Many members were accused of political and economic corruption, but have largely been acquitted or had charges against them dropped. Many are preparing to run for the expected parliamentary elections, such as business tycoon Ahmed Ezz. The party was led by Mubarak, and later by his son, Gamal, who was the Secretary of Policy in the party. Gamal Mubarak was expected to follow in his father's footsteps into the presidential office. At the time the Egyptian army, led by Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, opposed the inheritance of political power, which played a key role in Mubarak's ouster on 11 February 2011. Having spent more than three years behind bars, trials for the Mubarak family have not yet come to end. Despite the Mubarak sons enjoying bouts of freedom in the past period, a court order Saturday sentenced them, along with the former president, to three years in prison for embezzlement. It has been reported that all three were transferred to Tora Prison, but it is expected that this will be a temporary stay until they settle their legal issues, especially as they have served most of their time already.
