In response to a question on whether he intends to run for the presidency in the upcoming elections, Gamal Mubarak, assistant secretary general of the National Democratic Party (NDP) and secretary of the NDP Policy Committee, evaded the question asked by Magda Hamdi, a student at el-Wadi el-Gadid University in the Faculty of Agriculture. Acknowledging his evasion of the question, Mubarak commented "It seems that whenever questions are delayed, they become more heated."
Another student stood up and highlighted the mistrust between citizens and the government, and addressed Mubarak, the son, saying, "I wish I could follow your lead. I want to know how you reached this position, as you are an example to me."
This dialogue was held by Gamal Mubarak with students at el-Wadi el-Gadid University, Thursday, in Luxor city. Those who speak about the retreat of the Egyptian state in the region are thinking with a 1960s mentality, Gamal said, adding "The world has changed and the same policies that worked for a certain period cannot be applied [now]. However, there are people in our society whose thinking stopped during this period." The scope of freedom the opposition party obtained to promote their ideas and platforms is "unprecedented", he maintained.
In the international scene, there are Egyptian-Iranian differences on the vision for the future of the region, Mubarak stressed, but "we are against striking Iran and support a peaceful resolution to the issue."
Addressing Egyptian-American relations, he added, "The tense relationship with the United States over the past five years is evidence that we are not within the US’ orbit. Aid from the US is not vital to the Egyptian economy, although it has helped in our development over the past years, and there are mutual interests between the two countries."
Egypt, he said, must remain present within the international scene and expressed his relative optimism about Egyptian efforts over the last few years. The Upper Egyptian governorates have begun to see their share of job opportunities due to public and private investment, and the industrial sector has achieved more in the past four years than it did in the 15 years before that, Mubarak added.
On the same topic, Mubarak acknowledged there is a problem with the concentration of investments in certain governorates, specifically Greater Cairo, Lower Egypt and some industrial zones. Because of this, many governorates believe that the only result has been the unfair distribution of investment and job opportunities between Upper and Lower Egyptian governorates. This is a result of investor preference for industrial zones with ample infrastructure. Therefore, incentives should be granted to those who invest in Upper Egypt, Mubarak said, adding that "we seek to resolve some of the problems in the agriculture sector during the [upcoming] NDP congress."
In the same session, Ahmed el-Maghrabi, minister of housing, responded to a question on the prevalence of businessmen as ministers, and suggested there are several watchdogs in Egypt which examine this phenomenon. He stressed there is no reason to exclude expertise from government due to someone’s background, and that change should be based on what has been achieved and what changed after the individual assumed the position. This has been the case in the past, and there is no problem with it now, he added.
Growth is not taking place equally in all geographic areas and attempts to provide job opportunities has sometimes proved to be a failure, said the minister. He later described US President Barack Obama’s receiving of the Nobel Peace Prize as a "surprise", particularly since he entered the White House only one week before nominations for the prize closed.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
