CAIRO - Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said in comments published on Saturday that he hoped 82-year-old President Hosni Mubarak would seek a sixth six-year term in an election due next year.
"Egypt needs stability, and Mubarak is capable of realising this stability," the state news agency MENA quoted Nazif as saying during a meeting with newspaper editors on Friday. "The system has not put forth an alternative who can be comfortably placed in this field," he added.
| All potential alternatives have been locked up or turned their attention to other pursuits. |
Speculation over who will succeed Mubarak, in power since 1981, has increased. Mubarak has not said if he will seek another term, and many Egyptians believe he will try to lever his son Gamal into power if he does not.
| But Gamal is a bank executive by training, and has kept in the background running his father's political party rather than playing a role running the country. Besides, he has no sons, only a daughter, which matters in Egypt. The ancient Egyptian Pharohs did a better job preparing their heirs. On the other hand, some years ago the BBC disagreed. |
Nazif said Egypt has based its concept of political reform on party activity, but that a lack of development in this area has led to the continued domination of Mubarak's National Democratic Party.
| And only the Muslim Brotherhood as serious opposition. Not a promising picture. |
"Egypt has always had a dominant party," he added.
| Dictatorships are like that ... |
Nazif's remarks were also reported in the independent dailies al-Shurouk and al-Masry al-Youm. |