CAIRO - Egypt will hold its presidential election in September next year and the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) will meet by July to choose its candidate Gamal Mubarak, the party's chief of policies committee said. The approach of the election has prompted speculation over whether President Hosni Mubarak, who has led the Arab world's most populous country since 1981, will run for a sixth term. Analysts say the rules for the election guarantee that the ruling party's nominee will win. In the 2005 vote, Egypt's first multi-candidate race, Mubarak won easily. NDP officials have indicated Mubarak, 82, is likely to run next year if he is able to. If not, many believe Gamal or a candidate with a military background could run in his place. "Presidential elections are in September next year," Gamal Mubarak, the 47-yearold younger son of Mubarak, told reporters Monday night. "You'll find out who the eventual candidate is when the party convenes some time before the process starts next July and makes its finalofficial decision." However, Gamal refused to say if he himself will run, according to Reuters. "I gave an answer to this question five years ago and I have already replied to this question possibly three, four times a year since," he said in English when asked if he will run in the election. In November, younger Mubarak told an Egyptian television interviewer he had "no personal ambition" to succeed his father, who has ruled the country since 1981. Both Mubaraks have denied any plan for a family succession.
