Magdi al-Kurdi, coordinator for the popular coalition for the support of Gamal Mubarak in the 2011 presidential election, said that Gamal Mubarak would win the presidential election even if he ran against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. "Of course Gamal would win, because people are longing for change," replied al-Kurdi when asked if he expects Gamal to win even if he competes against President Mubarak. "And if Gamal wins, Mubarak will remain a political reference for the country," he went on. We call on Gamal to run, even if he has to go up against his father, he added, pointing out that change is part of any political process. For his part, Gamal, 46, who is the third most important official in the National Democratic Party (NDP), has not yet announced whether he is planning to run in the forthcoming presidential election, nor has President Mubarak, 82, announced if he will run for a sixth presidential term. Alieddin Helal, a prominent member of the NDP, said last month that Mubarak would be the NDP's candidate in the 2011 presidential election. However, Mohamed Kamal, head of the NDP's Political Education and Training Committee, said Gamal's candidacy is still an option. Al-Kurdi said his campaign to support Gamal's bid has collected 400 thousand signatures and that he plans to gather five million by the time of the election. He added however, that Gamal should call for the amendment of Article 77 of the Constitution--which does not set a limit on presidential terms--before he nominates himself. "Everyone who has called for amending the Constitution and political reform is already a notable force in the political scene, so our nomination of Gamal is tied to the amendment of the Constitution and political reform. Observers had said that Gamal is likely to limit presidential terms to just two in order to present himself as a reformer. Gamal Mubarak has been gaining steadily increased popularity since 2000 after he called for extensive reforms to the NDP and the Egyptian regime. However, opposition forces have said that these reforms were only intended to polish the image of the regime and ruling party. Translated from the Arabic Edition. !--Session data--
