Mubarak’s Son May Replace Him   

For nearly three decades, Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak has been one of the pillars of the Middle East: a fixed point around which everything else revolves.

• Gamal Mubarak.

Hosni Mubarak is 82 years old. Rumours of ill health have been vigorously denied. For someone of his age, he pursues a remarkably active schedule. Engagements are lined up, sometimes almost as a rebuke to those who suggest that Mr Mubarak’s energy is fading. But it is hard to silence the questions over whether a man who will be 83 at the next election is really suited to take on another six-year term in this gruelling job.

Amid this fevered atmosphere, a strange campaign has sprung up to nominate the president’s son, Gamal Mubarak, to run for the highest office.  “ Some years ago, Hosni Mubarak said he would serve Egypt to his last breath. He has made a point of not appointing a vice-president, and so there is no clear successor. ” The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), of which Gamal is a senior officer, insist that neither they nor Gamal himself have organised nor endorsed the campaign.

Tags:  Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, Middle East, National Democratic Party