The Arabist

The Arabist

By Issandr El Amrani and friends.

The ongoing Omar vs. Gamal Debate

In the 8 February LA Times, friend and journalist Hossam Hamalawy published an interesting article on the "other" often-rumored presidential successor to Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, Mukhaberat head Omar Sulayman.

The article is a nice background piece for the uninitiated.

The substanital contribution comes at the end of the piece where al-Misri al-Youm manager, Hisham Kassem, and Gamal Mubarak political advisor, Mohamad Kimal speculate on Sulayman's chances for Egypt's succession chances.

Kassem argues - "You can say today Omar Suleiman is the most prominent military figure with his influence and closeness to the president," and "Still, no one can guess who will succeed Mubarak to power. But it is not going to be a civilian."

Conversely Kimal states, "Is Omar Suleiman powerful? Yes he is. Does he have a strong say in politics? Yes, But any talk about Omar Suleiman drafting domestic policy or competing for power is pure exaggeration and fiction."

The latter statement is the clearest stance I have heard a member of the influential NDP's Policies Secretariat make re the situation
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This should re-fan the flames of this ongoing debate.