NDP leader: Hosni Mubarak is party's choice for presidential candidate

Secretary-General for the National Democratic Party (NDP) and Speaker of the Shura Council Safwat al-Sherif said the NDP has unanimously agreed to nominate President Mubarak for a sixth presidential term.

In an interview with Al-Mosawar, a weekly government-owned magazine, al-Sherif said the NDP is waiting for the president himself to make up his mind concerning his nomination. Nomination for the presidency is a complex procedure, he added.

"The NDP has chosen Mubarak for the upcoming presidential election, however we cannot override the President's own decision, because the decision is primarily his own," said al-Sherif.

Mubarak has a platform that runs until 2011 and he therefore does not need publicity, added al-Sharif.

Analysts have speculated that President Mubarak may not run in the forthcoming presidential election, particularly after he underwent surgery to remove his gallbladder and a benign intestinal tumor earlier this year.

Mubarak assumed power in 1981 and has not appointed a vice president.

Translated from the Arabic Edition.