EGYPT - Political Leadership.

The political decision makers in the Mubarak regime of Egypt form a collective elite and most of them have become millionaires in US dollar terms. President Mubarak heads the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), whose members of parliament dominate the National Assembly (parliament), are

The economic decision makers are technocrats. The most prominent among them are dedicated to economic reforms and are credited for the great strides achieved by the Egyptian economy in the past eight years.

There are about 15 legally approved political parties in the tolerated opposition. The main ones are the New Wafd Party, the Socialist Action Party, the Socialist Liberal Party, the National Progressive Unionist Grouping and the Democratic Nasserist Party. This tolerated opposition poses no danger to Mubarak's regime.

The banned opposition can be potentially dangerous and can cause the regime great harm. The dominant forces in the banned opposition are Islamic groups, but they declared a truce with the regime in 1999.

The main focus of the regime now is on economic reform, with Premier Obeid having the mandate to keep Egypt's "tiger" economy growing fast. Positive dealings with the IMF and good diplomacy with Western donors have ended the debt crisis which the country experienced during the 1980s.