A file photo for Ahmed Ezz (Photo:AP)
Mostakbal Misr (Egypt's Future) Party said it is discussing a proposal to ask Egyptian steel tycoon and former leading NDP member Ahmed Ezz to become an "honorary president" for the party.
Amr Emara, the founder and leader of Mostakbal Misr, said in media statements that the party might solicit assistance from “experienced politicians.”
Emara denied allegations that Ezz is the financier of the party, explaining that his name was floated for the honorary position from among a number of prominent figures in Egypt, including the late Nobel Prize winner Ahmed Zewail.
In 2015, a court banned Ezz from running in the country’s parliamentary elections.
Ezz, who was released from prison in 2015 after a lengthy trial over corruption charges, served as the top organiser of former president Hosni Mubarak’s now-dissolved National Democratic Party (NDP). He also acted as the spokesperson for the NDP in parliament between 2005 and 2010.
Ezz is widely believed to have engineered massive fraud during the 2010 parliamentary elections, securing an unprecedented majority for his party in the chamber.
Ezz is the chairman of Ezz Steel and has a 55 percent stake in EZDK, the largest steel complex in the Middle East, a one-time public sector conglomerate he acquired in a privatisation scheme in 1999.
Ezz enjoyed a close relationship with Gamal Mubarak, the former president's son who many believe was being groomed to succeed his father in the post.
Correction: An earlier version of this report stated Mostakbal Misr named Ezz honorary president.
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