CAIRO, 27 September 2003 — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak yesterday told the ruling National Democratic Party, seen by many Egyptians as a stale and unresponsive bureaucracy, to modernize and ensure it has broad appeal. The comments opened a three-day annual NDP conference that analysts said would raise the profile of young reformers like Mubarak’s son Gamal, who heads an NDP policy-making body.
Some analysts say Mubarak is grooming his son as his successor but the president has denied the speculation. However, he has failed to appoint a vice president who could succeed him. “Our annual conference this year is the first practical test of the extent of the sincerity of our intentions and how seriously we work to develop and modernize,” 75-year-old Mubarak said in a speech read by Information Minister Safwat Sherif, the party’s secretary-general.
“We must ... deepen understanding of our democratic work aiming to establish the pillars of strong multiparty life with the NDP as the party of the majority,” Mubarak’s speech said.
Opposition groups say the NDP rigs votes with police help, but the government says elections are fair.
The 2000 election prompted the party to revitalize its image in a bid to attract recruits, but analysts say veterans who have run it for most of its 25 years retain the key levers of power.
“The party believes that the path of reform and development is a path the state cannot walk along alone. The challenges of development must be faced on the basis of a solid partnership between the state and society,” Gamal Mubarak said in a speech.
