Mubarak May Stand Down

Mubarak May Stand Down Before September, Official Says

By Maher Chmaytelli

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Photographer: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images

Play Video

Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Angus Blair, head of research at Egyptian investment bank Beltone Financial, discusses the possibility of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepping down and the implications for the nation's economy and markets. Blair speaks with Margaret Brennan on Bloomberg Television's "InBusiness." (Source: Bloomberg)

Hosni Mubarak may stand down as president of Egypt before September after a wave of protests across the country demanding an end to his 30-year rule, said the head of Egypt’s ruling party.

“All options are open” once constitutional changes are enacted, Hossam Badrawi, the secretary general of the nation’s ruling National Democratic Party, told CNN in an interview. Mubarak may heed popular demands “before tomorrow,” the BBC’s Arabic service cited him as saying in a separate interview.

Mubarak’s rule may be nearing an end after hundreds of thousands of Egyptians flooded the country’s main squares and thoroughfares to demand his exit. The violence, which the United Nations says has killed more than 300 people, sparked fears about contagion in a region that holds more than 50 percent of the world’s known oil reserves.

Protests intensified after Mubarak last week rejected the opposition’s demand for an immediate departure, saying he would wait until September’s presidential election.

Reforms paving the way for Mubarak’s departure would allow a transfer of power to Vice President Omar Suleiman, said Badrawi. He said only Mubarak can take the final decision.