Egyptian President and newly reelected chairman of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) Hosni Mubarak stressed here Saturday that the national security is an important priority and a red line that no one should violate.
Mubarak made the remarks at the opening session of the ninth NDP General Conference shortly after he was reelected as NDP chairman with 5,248 votes in favor out of the total of 5,310 votes at a special NDP session.
The 79-year-old Egyptian president noted that the national security means "the defense of the independence of our national will and against oppression we are facing."
Egypt's national security, which is part of Mideast and regional security, also includes water and energy security, he added.
Besides national security, Mubarak hoped the conference to focus on investment and employment, services and social justice and citizenships and democracy, saying it should discuss means of balancing "our need for investments and employment, services and social justice, national security and democracy."
The NDP aims to improve the standard of the services the government offers to citizens, such as education, healthcare, housing and transport, Mubarak asserted.
As the only candidate, Mubarak was reelected in the first direct election in the NDP history via secret ballots for the party leadership.
The change of the voting method with ballots instead of hands-raising in the previous congresses, as well as other basic systematic changes, represent a democratic progress for the party, a NDP central committee member, who only gave his name as Mecky, told Xinhua.
The party congress, which holds every five years, will also witness the elections of other party leaders and the party's political bureau members.
The NDP, established in 1978, has now scantly four-fifths seats of the 454-member People's Assembly (lower house of the Egyptian parliament).
Source: Xinhua
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