This President's Son Won't Be Campaigning

Egypt is a nominally democratic nation, and there will be an election when Hosni Mubarak's long presidency comes to an end. But because only the ruling party can nominate a candidate, Egyptians already know who their next ruler will be: Hosni’s son, Gamal Mubarak. “We didn't choose Sadat, we didn't choose Mubarak, and we're not choosing the next one,” one Egyptian shrugged in a Washington Post piece about the heir-apparent.

Gamal, a business-friendly former banker who heads the party's policy committee, has steered Egypt to 7% growth. To Egypt’s powerful military, he represents a continuance of a comfortable status quo; the business community likes his pro-market views. But to the public, he’s a mystery. “People don't know who he is,” one Egyptian told the Post. “He's the president's son, and he's imposed on us.” (More Egypt stories.)