December 27th, 2010 by Evan

Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) held its seventh annual conference in Cairo last weekend. Party luminaries including President Hosni Mubarak, his son and NDP Policy Committee Chairman Gamal Mubarak, and NDP Secretary for Organizational Affairs Ahmed Ezz delivered remarks to the assembled party members. In his speech, President Mubarak hailed Egypt’s economic growth, while acknowledging that many working-class Egyptians have yet to see their quality of life improve. The success of a political party depends on how well it responds to constituents’ demands, Mubarak reminded the delegates.  The President also praised “junior party members” for their attempts to reform NDP’s internal party structures.

Gamal Mubarak explained, “the political activities and actions of the NDP are working at the local level, to the benefit of the villages, the families and the hard-working people of Egypt. Their needs are for more jobs, better schools, improved healthcare and greater access to basic infrastructure — and that is what our party is working to provide.” Gamal also called for a “second wave” of economic reforms to be implemented quickly. And Ezz defended the government’s economic reforms: “I cannot claim that we have achieved all our aspirations. I cannot say that we could not have done better. But this does not rule out the fact that we made remarkable achievements over the last years.”

Posted in Egypt, Political Parties |