CAIRO - Heweida Mohamed has seen the leaders of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) locked in two televised encounters with leaders from other political parties, but she is still not convinced. Despite this, the 41-year-old civil servant still admires the idea of bringing all options to the electorate on TV and giving voters the chance to select whatever they want. “The leaders of the ruling party speak as if they have not been in power for 30 years now,” Mohamed, an accountant by profession, said. “They keep talking about the future, but have done nothing so far to tell us what they did in the past. But I still like the idea of giving voters the chance to see all parties and make their choices,” she told The Gazette in an interview. Aseries of televised debates among political parties participating in tomorrow's legislative elections seem to have given ordinary Egyptians fodder for their discussions these days. The debates that have featured Egypt's four major parties, namely the National Democratic Party, the Tagammu (Progressive Unionist) Party, Al-Wafd Party, and the Nasserite Party also seem to have introduced Egyptians to the platforms of these parties for the first time in a country where the majority prefer to stay away from political participation and political party membership. The televised encounters have leaders from the four parties speaking about their own platforms and plans for the future, being based on the presumption that any of them can mount Egypt's saddle by force of the elections that would be held tomorrow. “We have nice people talking about rosy things here,” said Tamer Hassan, a 34-year-old businessman. “But can any of these opposition parties really take power from the National Democratic Party? The answer is in the negative of course,” he added. Some people say having filled the West with fear against the Muslim Brotherhood already, this is time the Government sought to strengthen this country's political parties at the expense of the Brotherhood. Political party candidates are given a considerable space for campaigning before the elections, but the same is not done with the candidates of the Brotherhood whose election banners are not allowed to exist on the streets and whose supporters suffer continual raids by Egypt's police. In the televised encounters, the NDP is keen to drive home the message that its leaders know this country best and that they have a detailed plan for its development. “We have a programme tied to a strict timeline,” said Egypt's Finance Minister Youssef Botrous- Ghali, who represented the party in the first debate on Tuesday. “We know exactly what we will do and when,” he added. His remarks angered Ali el-Selmi, a noted economist, who represented the liberal Al-Wafd Party. El-Selmi asked about the reason why the leaders of the NDP could not cure Egypt's economic, social, educational and medical wounds since they knew it best. Heweida Mohamed, the accountant, asks similar questions. She says she can not believe what the NDP says in voicing out plans for the development of Egypt. “The present speaks volumes of the future,” she said.
