Court dissolves former Egypt ruling party

"The administrative court issued a ruling to dissolve the NDP and seize its money, and its headquarters and buildings will be handed to the government," a senior government source said.

The Higher Administrative Court's verdicts cannot be appealed.

The NDP, the party of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, was fighting for its survival after protests forced the strongman to resign on February 11 and much of its senior leadership is now behind bars on suspicion of corruption.

Others such as Hossam Badrawi, who briefly led the party before resigning in protest when Mubarak dragged his feet over stepping down, have either defected or are planning to form a new party.

The court said in its ruling that "it does not make sense for the regime to fall but not its instrument, the party", according to the official MENA news agency.

The NDP, founded by former president Anwar Sadat, dominated Egyptian politics for around three decades, winning majorities in elections that were widely seen as rigged.

Talaat Sadat, the late president's nephew, was appointed as the new head of the party after the revolt.

Sources said he was at today's hearing, after which opponents of the party began chanting "The NDP is illegitimate".

Some NDP properties were inherited from the previous incarnation of the ruling party in Sadat's time, while others are leased from private owners, its members claim.

There are also separate, private lawsuits demanding the return of some of the buildings to their owners.

The NDP's main Nile riverfront headquarters was torched during the revolt that ousted Mubarak and is now being fought over by the Cairo governorate, which wants to turn it into a park, and the Egyptian Museum across the street.

Its remaining members had hoped to contest the upcoming parliamentary election in September and argued that they had cut ties with corrupt party officials and apologised to Egyptians for "party mistakes".

In its heyday, the party had relied to a large extent on local notables and businessman to run in and fund parliamentary campaigns.

Standing for the NDP, in return, facilitated services to constituents as well as personal benefits.

Issandr EL Amrani, a Cairo based journalist and blogger at arabist.net who has closely followed the party's internal politics said its stalwarts may choose to either form a new party or join others.

They may also gravitate towards whoever appears most likely to win the upcoming presidential election in November, he said.

"Most people who joined it thought it was party of the regime, so they'll go to whoever they think has the best chance," he said.

Arab League chief Amr Mussa, who served as foreign minister under Mubarak, appears to be the front runner so far.

His assistant has told local press that Mussa, who called for the party's dissolution, would welcome former "good" NDP members.

During the past decade, Mubarak's son Gamal established a policies secretariat in the party that pushed through economic reforms and increasingly turned the NDP into a legislative power centre.

Gamal, his brother Alaa and their father have all been remanded in preventive custody as part of an investigation into the killings of anti-regime protesters.

The three are also under suspicion of corruption, as are the party's former secretary Safwat al-Sharif and other senior leaders.

The party's dissolution and trial of its former leadership were key demands of protesters who continued holding rallies after Mubarak's ouster, placing pressure on the country's ruling military council.