CAIRO: Around Cairo s streets colorful signs herald President Hosni Mubarak s ruling National Democratic Party s conference this weekend with an upbeat motto: A Thought for a Better Future.
It s the party s annual showcase to boast of government successes, make promises and plot future strategy. This year s gathering, however, is being held amid increasing skepticism of the government, political uncertainty and worsening economic woes in the Arab world s most populous nation.
Opponents say the party will do nothing to bring real change – and that the three-day event which starts Saturday is another bid to consolidate the power base of the president s son, Gamal, expected to step in after his aging father s term ends in 2011.
There is one word which sums up what Egypt looks like today – a nightmare, said author Mohammed El-Bisati, whose new novel, Aswar, or walls in Arabic, depicts Egypt as a prison. Egypt has entered a dark tunnel which seems to have no end.
Egyptians woes are many, from grinding poverty to disillusionment with the corruption that flourishes in the cozy relationship between government and influential businessmen.
The World Bank, in a recent report, estimated that the number of Egyptians living in poverty reached 20 percent by 2005, and the U.N. Population Fund said recently that the figure was now double that.
An army of at least 2 million beggars roams the streets of Cairo and other cities, according to another study, by Egypt s National Center for Social Research.
Indeed, gloom prevails among a nation long famed for its legendary sense of humor. Last week, the opposition Al-Ahaly newspaper asked in a banner headline, Why are Egyptians sad?
Gailane Gabr, a columnist for the independent Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper said the people need of a quick fix to erase the the national mourning we see in the faces of many Egyptians.
Yet, economic hardships are expected to worsen for Egypt s 78 million people, as the global financial crisis threatens to slow growth, expand unemployment and boost inflation.
In April, violent protests over the cost of food resulted in three deaths. Others died during fights in lines for subsidized bread.
Critics blame the government, accusing it of mismanagement, cronyism and corruption.
As for the ruling party, its opponents say it grants free reign to the business tycoons who sit in the party s leadership, the parliament and the government.
For example, they say Cabinet economic portfolios are run by businessmen whose families or associates own a large portion of the economy. Businessmen – most of them NDP members – control some 25 percent of the 454-seat parliament and block measures to check monopolies, they say.
This is a marriage of convenience between politics and business. It is hard to see them breaking away, said Mahmoud El-Askalani, of the Citizens Against High Cost, a consumer advocacy group.
Egypt was ranked 115 out of 180 countries in Transparency International s 2008 corruption perception index, released last month.
Only in recent months have several party tycoons been jailed, questioned or indicted over such things as bribery, profiteering and even murder.
In the most shocking case, Hisham Talaat Mousatfa, Egypt biggest real estate developer and a senior NDP member, has gone on trial to face charges he hired a former police officer to kill a Lebanese pop singer who was found with her throat slit in her luxury Dubai apartment.
Egyptians also face skyrocketing property prices, and another of the ruling party s leaders has come under press attack because of accusations he played a role by maintaining a monopoly in the steal and iron market that raised the prices of construction materials.
In the streets, meanwhile, there s an increase in robbery, mugging and harassment, especially of women.
Fearing that Muslim fundamentalists might seize on Egypt s many crises to take over the government, some have even suggested that the army step in after Mubarak. That reflects the view that the army might be the only legitimate and powerful institution that can save Egypt from chaos.
Change cannot come from outside the regime, said political analyst Diaa Rashawn. It makes a lot of sense if the army steps in.
Party officials dismiss the criticism.
Egypt is shining. Only the mobs are trying to make it dim, said party Secretary-General Safwat El-Sherif on the NDP s website.
