CAIRO - The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) Wednesday instructed its members and provincial officials to stay away from a campaign supporting Gamal Mubarak, the younger son of President Hosni Mubarak, to run for Egypt's presidency. "The NDP neither supports nor discourages any such campaign. Egypt is a democracy and everyone can support the person whom he believes can lead the country," the independent Al-Masry Al-Youm quoted a senior official at the party as saying. According to the same official whom the newspaper did not name, Ahmed Ezz, the NDP's liaison secretary, had warned the party's provincial officials against joining this campaign, which asks Egyptians to sign a document requesting younger Mubarak to run in Egypt's presidential elections next year. The campaigners, spearheaded by former member of the leftist Tagammu Party Magdi el-Kordy, said they had collected 22,000 signatures for Gamal to run for presidency through their website. "Our campaign, "Your Vote is a Trust", is not an invitation to a monarchy," said Ahmed el-Menshawi, the co-ordinator of the campaign. Gamal Mubarak, 46, a former investment banker in London, returned to Egypt a decade ago to become a member of the ruling party. Opposition claims that he is being groomed to succeed his father, a claim denied by both Mubaraks. Gamal is the secretary of the NDP's influential policies committee. He is also believed to be one of the architects of the liberal economic policies the Government has been adopting since 2004. Around 20 lawyers, spearheaded by Samir el-Shishtawi, filed a report with the Prosecutor General against Ayman Nour, the founder of el-Ghad Party, accusing him of inciting hatred for Gamal and depriving him of his constitutional right to stand in presidential elections. Nour who is leading a campaign against Gamal's running for presidency shrugged his shoulders “It's an honour for me to call on citizens not to elect Gamal Mubarak,” said Nour.
