Egypt's oldest and most prominent opposition political party, Al- Wafd has ruled out a coalition with the banned Muslim Brotherhood in the parliamentary elections due later this year. "Holding a coalition with the Brotherhood for the next elections is unacceptable," said el-Sayed el-Badawi, the head of Al-Wafd Party. He added in a lecture given at a summer camp for young Al-Wafd members in the coastal town of Port Said that his party was seeking to strengthen the coalition of political parties through allying itself with more parties. The Muslim Brotherhood, which holds one fifth of the People's Assembly's (the Lower House of the Egyptian Parliament) seats, had declared it would not boycott the parliamentary elections unless all political parties agreed on a unanimous decision to boycott them. Al-Wafd has called for a meeting with difference political powers tomorrow to mull guarantees for fair elections. El-Badawi, however, stressed that Al-Wafd rejects hereditary succession in Egypt. "We are not against Gamal Mubarak (frequently mooted to succeed his father). We are against hereditary succession," he stated. Gamal Mubarak is the secretary-general of the ruling National Democratic Party's influential policy committee. He is also one of the architects of the liberal economic policies the Government has been adopting since 2004. President Hosni Mubarak has been in power since 1981, and has yet to say if he will seek a sixth term.
