By Sara Elghobashy
October 26, 2009
As Egyptians gear up for the 2011 elections, speculation has begun about who will be on the ballot. Will it be the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei? Or perhaps Arab League Chief, Amr Mussa. And which Mubarak will it be? Current dictator, err I mean president, Hosni, or his politically involved son, Gamal?
ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize winner (he won the award back when it had a meaning), has been asked by Al Wafd Party and the Free Constitutional Party to run under their party platforms. However, he has yet to confirm or deny whether he has ambitions of becoming the president of Egypt though he has decided that he will not seek a fourth term as Director General of the IAEA. If he does consider running, the news will be openly welcomed by many Egyptians who feel that ElBaradei can bring some much needed change to Egypt’s corrupt politics as a respected Nobel laureate.
But ElBaradei is not the only political figure surrounded by buzz of a possible candidacy. Amr Mussa, a former Egyptian Foreign Minister, told Shorouk, an independent newspaper, last week that it was too soon to decide whether he will run but that he valued “the trust expressed by many citizens when they talk of my nomination for the presidency...and it is a message that has reached me,” adding that he is “among the firmest believers in the need to awaken a project for an Egyptian renaissance.” Mussa was encouraged to run in 2005 when an Egyptian group petitioned to have him enter the race only to have him decline.
But let’s be honest, the presidency will certainly go to a Mubarak. The Egyptian constitution requires that a presidential candidate be the head of a political party that was formed at least five years prior to the election and possible candidates must also gather the signatures of 250 elected officials, making it a nearly impossible task for anyone else to run (which is precisely the reason the ruling National Democratic Party allows elections to proceed in this manner).
The majority of political analysts say that the next ruling Mubarak will most likely be Gamal, who currently holds a senior position in the NDP that has allowed him to make many allies in the government. The recently instituted economic reform (which is being attributed to Gamal’s efforts) is slowly helping to lift Egypt off the ground and has gained the praise of foreign investors, who are maneuvering their way into the country in larger numbers. He has also joined his father on several trips to meet foreign heads of states and other important political figures, all signs that he is being groomed to take his father’s place.
Maybe the Mubaraks should throw Egypt a curveball and nominate Suzanne, Hosni’s wife, as she is the only member of the Mubarak family who currently holds favor with the Egyptian public. Her charitable work and efforts to help improve Egypt’s educational and health care systems make her appear saint-like in comparison to her husband, who is often associated with corruption and tyranny, and her son, who is expected to rule in the manner of his father. Just another way to keep it in the family, no?
The National Democratic Party is set to meet this month, but have said that it is still too early to nominate a candidate. Until they do, the Egyptian public anxiously awaits the announcement of whether Hosni or Gamal will be their next president. Opposition groups have already geared up their campaigns to fight this succession of power, though their efforts will most likely be futile in the end.
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