by CAM MCGRATH
CAIRO, Oct 26, 2011 (IPS) – Members of the regime of ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak have demanded to be allowed to run in upcoming elections and warned of violence if legislation to prohibit their political ambitions is passed.
In April, an Egyptian court dissolved Mubarak’s National Democratic Party (NDP), which ruled throughout his 30-year presidency, and ordered its funds and property returned to the state. Dozens of former officials and businessmen aligned with the party have been jailed or are awaiting trial on corruption charges. Others have been removed from influential positions in the government and public sector.
Activists who led the 18-day uprising are determined to keep members of the former regime from re- entering the political arena. They say the NDP – which dominated parliament, municipal councils and business – was built on a culture of patronage and corruption.
“NDP leaders who participated in rigging elections and abused their positions to prop Mubarak’s despotic regime should be kept out of politics,” says political analyst Amr Hashem Rabie.
In the eight months since Mubarak was toppled, the remnants of his now defunct NDP have regrouped into new political parties and are poised to reclaim a place on the country’s political map. No less than a dozen parties have been formed by stalwarts of the old regime, and many former NDP leaders have discreetly joined various political groups.
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