President Hosni Mubarak received a report on final preparations for holding the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) election rallies in centres and directorates across the country, due to start Monday and run for four days.

NDP Secretary General Safwat Sherif said Sunday that the report that he delivered to the NDP leader, also covers rallies planned to be held by the party nationwide on September 25.

He said that the party will be in its full formation at the level of partisan units, centres, directorates and governorates by October 3, one month before the convocation of the NDP 9th General Conference.

Moreover, Safwat Sherif said that secretaries of the NDP units will be applointed after forming the boards of bureaus in the governorates, centers and directorates.

The second phase of the NDP elections, due to run today, will allow the opportunity for 14700 NDP members of women and youth to assume leadership posts. The elections will start today and last for four days, while the rallies in the governorates will be held on September 25th, as previously mentioned.

Meantime, the National Democratic Party (NDP)'s Secretary General Safwat El-Sherif said the party has developed a plan to effectively respond to propagated rumours.

Now we have a communication network with NDP secretaries in all governorates to immediately respond to rumours and counter them with facts, Sherif told Rose Al-Yousef newspaper in an interview to be published Monday. He recalled that the NDP responded to recent rumours about President Hosni Mubarak's health through its secretaries in the governorates. Sherif suggested to those who question Egypt's democracy to read the constitutional amendments before making ungrounded allegations.

Under the recent changes, the constitution stipulates that the Prime Minister assumes the duties of the President in his temporary absence, said the NDP Secretary General .

17/9/2007