Papers around the world have speculated that President Hosni Mubarak's, alleged terminal illness has once again raised the crucial question of political succession in Egypt
A tough decision is meant to be made regarding the next national elections as liberal political opposition and intellects are expected to either decline collaboration with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and take part on their own with no valid chances of securing strong representation in the Egyptian parliament, or join forces with the MB and to make concessions to find a possible strong candidate acknowledged by both the liberals and the MB
According to Bilal Saab a Ph.D. student and Teaching Assistant at the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland , College Park
Egyptian liberals will be faced with difficulty in its call for change and political reform without the MB's numbers, street appeal and mobilization. Saab indicated that "With the MB however change is possible
The MB's current success in collecting 125, 000 signatures on its online petition supporting Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei's 7 demands for change has prompted analysts to question whether the Egyptian society has finally begun to establish a powerful and credible political opposition. Despite agreeing to support ElBaradei's call for political reform MB sources have maintained that the MB's support is for the former IAEA chief's stance on constitutional amendments rather than support for the individual himself adding that the group has repeatedly presented these demands and calls for change