The ruling NDP was mobilised this week to respond to challenges and accusations levelled by local and foreign forces, Gamal Essam El-Din reports Leading officials of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) were unsettled by a recent wave of attacks from the United States and local political opposition forces. As usual, the NDP's secretary-general, Safwat El-Sherif, was at the forefront of ruling party officials who stood up to the criticism. El-Sherif said the NDP's strategy for the next period would be focussed on responding to such charges and explaining the party's policies to the public. In an interview with the US-based satellite television channel Al-Hurra on Monday, El-Sherif described the US State Department's criticism of the violent reaction of security forces to demonstrations staged by protesters on 6 April as "unjustified and [representing] blatant interference in the internal affairs of Egypt." In El-Sherif's words, "the US is not the world's policeman tasked with disciplining political life across the world." El-Sherif, however, said that he expects that last week's exchange of criticism with Washington will not negatively affect US-Egyptian relations. El-Sherif argued that when political youth movements, such as the 6 April Movement, decide to organise street protests and demonstrations they should respect the law. "Imagine how much chaos could be caused if every one decided to go out demonstrating anywhere," said El-Sherif, adding that, "we have to respect freedom and not to allow it to slide into disastrous chaos, negatively affecting the stability and security of society or the safety of citizens on the street." The 6 April demonstrations caused a lot of furore this week. Two NDP MPs -- Nashaat El-Qassas from Sinai and Ahmed Abu Aqrab from Assiut -- were accused of inciting security forces to stop dealing "leniently" with 6 April protesters, proposing instead that these forces should rather "shoot them". Parliament Speaker Fathi Sorour told MPs Tuesday that El-Qassas and Abu Aqrab strongly denied that they had asked security forces to shoot protesters, complaining that their statements on 6 April protesters during a Sunday meeting held by the People Assembly's National Security and Defence Committee were misquoted by parliamentary correspondents. According to Abu Aqrab and El-Qassas, they were misquoted with the deliberate objective of tarnishing the image of the ruling NDP and the People's Assembly. "All we said in this meeting is that the demonstrations of 6 April protesters are illegal because they did not obtain a licence in advance from the Ministry of Interior," Abu Aqrab said, defending himself, adding: "I said I sympathise with the 15 police officers who were seriously injured by 6 April protesters and that it is the right of security forces to shoot protesters who attack them violently or allow armed rioters to join them." Responding to El-Qasaas's statements, demonstrators from 6 April movement and political activists staged on Tuesday a protest in front of parliament to express their anger. Speaker Sorour said he believes that there is a misunderstanding about what was said by El-Qassas and Abu Aqrab and he does not imagine that an elected MP can go so far as asking security forces to shoot protesters. Sorour ordered that a tape-recording of Sunday's meeting be transcribed, "so that everyone can know the truth about this meeting." In his interview with Al-Hurra, El-Sherif said he fully understands that the 6 April Youth Movement belongs to a new generation "using the Internet and Facebook." He explained that, "the majority of NDP members are also young people and when I meet them, I tell them 'Express your thoughts in the way you like, because you are the sons of a new cyberspace generation.'" El-Sherif argued that "the NDP strongly believes in democracy and reform," and that "the party has adopted a new style of thinking since 2002." "We have become a youth party, with the number of young members now exceeding 60 per cent and their ages range between 18, 25 and 30 years." Answering a question about the thorny issue of succession, El-Sherif said: "The NDP will not open the file of presidential elections this year." "Our agenda for this year will first focus on the elections of the Shura Council and the People's Assembly and after this everything will be clear to discuss the issue of presidential elections." El-Sherif, however, said that the majority of NDP members hope that, "President Mubarak will be the ruling party's candidate in the presidential elections of 2011." In El-Sherif's words, "President Mubarak is the most capable and qualified to shoulder the responsibility as president of Egypt in the next term of office." The issue of succession has been a hot topic in recent weeks. The return of Mohamed El-Baradei, former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to Egypt to lead a campaign for political reform made the issue of succession a headache for the NDP. El-Sherif said he is not ready to join the debate about whether Gamal Mubarak, the 47-year-old son of President Mubarak and chairman of the NDP's influential Policies Committee, will stand in the presidential elections of 2011. "All I can say in this respect is that we have a constitution and an NDP institutional structure and those who find themselves eligible can stand in the presidential elections." El-Sherif said the NDP is currently busy preparing for mid-term elections of the Shura Council, scheduled for June. "After the new Shura Council meets on 25 June, the NDP will begin preparing for the election of the People's Assembly," El-Sherif said, adding, "the latter election is the most important, because it is the one that will determine the shape and make-up of the next parliament." "The election of the People's Assembly is expected to be held early November, but the NDP's preparations for this election will begin in September." El-Sherif strongly dismissed press reports that the NDP has made "political deals" with opposition parties, or the Muslim Brotherhood, ahead of elections. "We conduct just, open and candid dialogues with legal opposition parties and we welcome fair competition, but we reject under-the-table deals," said El-Sherif. The NDP's "electoral colleges" began yesterday meeting to select the party's candidates for mid-term Shura Council elections. "At least 60 per cent of the party's members in each college should be available to select the favoured candidate," said El-Sherif. Meetings of the NDP's electoral colleges will last until Sunday next to select 88 candidates. Minister of State for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Moufid Shehab indicated that registration for the Shura Council polls would open in the first week of May. "As for the [elections], this will be conducted within the first two weeks of June," said Shehab. Shehab, also the NDP's assistant secretary-general, supervised Alexandria's NDP electoral college yesterday, while Gamal Mubarak and Zakaria Azmi, chief of the presidential staff, supervised Cairo's electoral college. On Monday, a new law aimed at changing the geographical size of the Shura Council's constituencies was finally approved. Shehab explained that the change was made to reflect the fact that three new governorates -- Helwan, 6 October and Luxor -- were created in 2008. "The creation of these three governorates did not mean that the number of Shura Council's constituencies would be increased," said Shehab, adding that "the number of Shura constituencies will remain standing at 88; it is only the geographical size of these constituencies that will be changed to contain the newly-created governorates." The NDP's decision to respond to attacks was taken in a meeting held by its steering office last week. Leading officials decided that a new strategy should be adopted to explain the party's position on certain issues and to respond to challenges. "We emphasised that the NDP does not accept corrupt people among its ranks and that the party works on improving the living standard of citizens and raising salaries of state employees," said El-Sherif. He said the NDP would prepare a new programme. "Gamal Mubarak will prepare this programme, which will include the political, economic and social achievements of the NDP," said El-Sherif.
