Egyptian court dissolves Mubarak’s former ruling party

An Egyptian supreme administrative court has dissolved the former ruling organization of deposed president Hosni Mubarak.

All assets belonging to the National Democratic Party (NDP) will be seized and handed over to the government.

The dissolution of the party was a major demand of protesters who ultimately succeeded in removing Mubarak from office two months ago.

Demonstrators had targeted NDP offices from the very beginning.

Now the NDP will be unable to participate in parliament elections due in September.

The party, which was established by Mubarak’s friend and predecessor, Anwar Sadat, in 1978, has dominated Egyptian politics ever since.

Many former NDP figures have been arrested and await trials for a litany of crimes. Mubarak himself is being detained for fifteen days in a military hospital, bracing to face interrogation on corruption allegations.

Mubarak’s two sons and various other former officials of the toppled regime are also under investigation. The family is under a travel ban and their assets have been frozen.

Rumors abound that the Mubarak family has stashed away as much as $70-billion in foreign banks.

Mubarak, now 82 years old, is said to be in an unstable condition and reportedly suffered a heart attack when facing questions from a prosecutor.

Interestingly, the recently appointed secretary-general of NDP is Talat el-Sadat, a nephew of Anwar el-Sadat, and now a leading opposition figure.

Al Jazeera reported that NDP was trying to “re-brand” itself.

A correspondent said: there's a statement coming out from the new figures in the party which is now to be called the New National Party. What they're saying is that they're going to rid the party of corrupt officials and that there were some honest people who would run as independents but had no other choice but to join the party because of the situation in the country.