Mubarek-the-sequel is going to lose, one way or the other

■"A Political Rival of Mubarek Loses His Seat in Parliament," by Abeer Allam, New York Times, 11 November 2005, p. A6.

Hosni Mubarek has forced out the second-place finisher in the recent presidential election, strong-arming the parliamentary election in his district as payback for his running.

Mubarek dreams he's gonna shove his son, Gamal, down the throats of people in 2011, the next presidential election. Watch for more shenanigans of this sort between now and then.

My bet is that old man Hosni dies in office and Gamal gets declared his replacement and then runs as incumbent in 2011 just like his old man did this year.

That PM better keep the reform process humming in the economy, because the political scene will be going nowhere but backwards if Mubarek has his way.