The upcoming wedding of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's son is just one more part of an elaborate plan to have him succeed his father in power, many Egyptians are convinced.
The family denies such plans, but the feeling that Gamal Mubarak has been anointed to become president sparks wide opposition and even scorn here -- underlining deep uncertainty over the future of this key US ally.
The elder Mubarak has marginalized any real challengers, and no one besides his son has emerged as a likely candidate.
Gamal has risen swiftly to become the most powerful figure in the ruling party, leading a program of economic liberalization. Many view nearly every step the government takes as part of a plan for tawreeth -- Arabic for "handing down the inheritance."
On the political side, critics say, the government's controversial democratic reforms, including changes to the Constitution last month, have served to pave the way for Gamal to step in when the time comes.
Gamal's wedding -- set for May 4, Hosni Mubarak's 79th birthday -- aims to cover the social side, ensuring that he conforms with the family-man status expected of an Arab leader, the critics say.
The fact that the 43-year-old former investment banker has gone this long unwed has fueled his image as out of step with Egypt's conservative society.
"Congratulations to the groom, you who are getting us as your inheritance," popular protest poet Ahmed Fouad Negm wrote in a recent sarcastic ode to the president's son. "Groom of the nation ... we know what you're up to."
A father-son succession is taken as more of a certainty among members of the ruling National Democratic Party, where Gamal holds the post of deputy leader.
In the past year, debate within the party has moved beyond whether Gamal should succeed his father to how best to carry it out, said a party official close to the president's son. The official requested anonymity.
"Everything that has been done is aimed at facilitating the transition of power to Gamal Mubarak," said Rabab el-Mahdi, an opposition activist and a political science lecturer at the American University in Cairo.
Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled for a quarter century, has four more years left in his six-year term.
One scenario is that Gamal would be the party's candidate for president in the next election, expected in 2011.
But the constitutional amendments passed last month have raised another possibility. One change provided for the prime minister to fill in as president if the incumbent dies or is incapacitated, raising speculation the son will be appointed prime minister as a stepping stone.
"The man doesn't know Egypt," Ibrahim Eissa, a harsh critic of the Mubarak regime, wrote in an April 2 column in the independent newspaper Al-Destour. "How can we allow him to rule Egypt?"
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