CAIRO, 25 September 2004 — Gamal Mubarak emerged yesterday from the ruling National Democratic Party’s (NDP) annual convention as an ever more likely successor to his father, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
During the three-day convention, which ended Thursday, Gamal, 41, consolidated his image as being at the vanguard of the NDP’s new, liberal — at least economically — way of thinking. But he will still have to wait some time before putting himself forward at national elections, commentators say.
Gamal further polished his image as a modern manager, worlds apart from the NPD’s old guard, with the president’s son repeating once more his opposition to the inheritance of power, while many still believe that he is being groomed as Hosni’s successor.
Younger NPD members refer to him as a republican heir-apparent, who will put himself forward at elections at the right moment, and then be embraced by the electorate.
Hosni Mubarak, 76, has been in power for the past 23 years and is widely expected to be given a fifth term in office following a single-candidate presidential referendum in September 2005. The senate is tasked with presenting the candidate.
The president drew the convention to a close with a speech calling for more economic reforms and democratic participation, but failing to address calls for reform of the presidential electoral system.
The elder Mubarak appeared in good health, having been taken ill during a speech to parliament last November, and having had surgery on his back in Germany in June.
Yet Hosni Mubarak was otherwise noticeably absent from the convention, leaving the limelight to his younger son. “The NDP convention confirms Gamal Mubarak’s leadership of the party,” ran a front-page headline in Al-Mustaqbal Al-Gadeed weekly.
The article went on to say that reform-minded thinking had dominated the convention and that all projects discussed bore the hallmark of Gamal, who also heads the party’s powerful Policies Committee.
Egyptian analysts predict that the next stage in Gamal’s swift rise to power will be his nomination as NDP secretary general, replacing 71-year-old former Information Minister Safwat Al-Sharif.
A number of ambassadors to Egypt were invited to a meeting with Gamal on the sidelines of the convention, where the diplomats said he proved himself to be knowledgeable about specific dossiers and at ease with the group.
While much noise was made about economic reforms necessary to revive Egypt’s stagnant economy, institutional reform was not mentioned, as “they are not part of the NDP’s current priorities,” according to Gamal.
Egyptian opposition groups, which held an alternative conference, said they were disappointed by the convention.
They called instead for the repeal of emergency laws that have been in place throughout Mubarak’s time in office, presidential multi-candidate elections and constitutional reform aimed at setting up a parliamentary democracy.
