Egypt's opposition and the ruling party have this week courted workers who have become increasingly restive about pay and conditions before a parliament election this year and a presidential vote in 2011. Potential presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei, 67, met labour representatives on Monday, while newspapers said on Tuesday ruling party officials, including Gamal Mubarak, had discussed raising the minimum wage. It followed a protest by hundreds of workers in front of the cabinet office this month to demand a new minimum wage since the old one set in 1984 is virtually worthless. Winning over workers may not change the result of the parliament vote, which President Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party is expected to dominate again. Opponents are already talking about unfair tactics in the run-up to that election. But analysts say the ruling party wants to boost its popularity with a group that grumbles about liberalisation policies, while ElBaradei and the opposition see a constituency that if mobilised could rattle the establishment. "I met with representatives of the labour force and discussed their ideas for reform," ElBaradei, who has said he might run for president if a fair election is guaranteed, told Reuters after a three-hour gathering. He did not give details. The group of 20 included socialist Nasserists and members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned group which won a fifth of parliament's seats in 2005 by running as independents. The Brotherhood says state suppression will likely shrink their representation in the vote later this year. Workers meeting ElBaradei came from industrial cities like Mahalla al-Kubra and Shibin el-Kom, where protests over pay and prices turned violent in 2008. The president's son, who many believe is being groomed for office, and other party officials had met on Sunday to discuss the minimum wage, state newspapers said in front page reports. President Mubarak, 81 and in power since 1981, has not said if he will run for another six-year term. Mubarak had surgery in Germany in March and has not been seen in public since returning last month. The party meeting was Gamal's first political appearance since his father's surgery. Party officials discussed "raising the minimum wage to alleviate the suffering of citizens and to achieve social justice, curb inflation and adjust prices", Al-Ahram said. Low wages, surging prices and privatisations have been major complaints in the rising number of strikes in Egypt. The April protest about the minimum wage called for it to be set at 1,200 Egyptian pounds ($218) after a court ruled it should be raised from the 1984 level of 35 pounds a month. The demand is drawing the attention of officials and the opposition. "It is an issue which affects all of Egypt's workers and employees and the government's popularity depends on how well it responds to these demands," said Ahmed el-Naggar, economist at Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.
