Egyptian steel tycoon and former leading NDP member Ahmed Ezz is seemingly returning to the political scene after being named the "honorary president" of a new political party.
Amr Emara, the founder and leader of the new Mostakbal Misr (Egypt's future) Party, said in media statements that the party is in the process of forming a board and that it is asking for assistance from “experienced politicians.”
Emara denied allegations that Ezz is the financier of the party, explaining that he was chosen for the honorary position from a list of prominent figures in Egypt, including recently-deceased scientist Ahmed Zewail.
In 2015, a court banned Ezz from running in the country’s parliamentary elections.
Ezz, who was released from prison in 2015 over corruption charges, served as the 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.
A return by Ezz to the political scene is likely to stir up controversy in the country, as he 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. The company was previously known as the Alexandria National Iron and Steel Company before Ezz, who was then a mid-level steel manufacturer, was called in to bail out the struggling publicly-owned company 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 as president.
