Egypt's controversial new parliament convened Monday, and it was filled almost entirely with members of the ruling party.

During President Hosni Mubarak's address to the newly seated People's Assembly Sunday, the leader defended the policies of the ruling National Democratic Party and dismissed all the opposition's outcry.

According to Gamal Eid of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, the defense lawyers for the prominent Egyptian journalist Hamdy Qandil, currently being tried for allegedly defaming Foreign Minister

Former Wafd MP, Mohamed El-Omda, filed a lawsuit to the Supreme Administrative Court against President Mubarak.

According to US assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor Michael Posner there is still hope for Egypt yet.

One day, Egypt will enter the post-Mubarak era, and until then uncertainty remains. The last transition of power was nearly 30 years ago and not much has changed since then:

Opposition has united in their bid to expose the ruling National Democratic Party using all possible legal means in what they described as the farcical elections held recently.

The National Democratic Party (NDP) will begin preparing its platform for the presidential candidate after the seventh annual conference slated for December 25-26.

Senior members from the oppositions Tagammu Party called on Refaat ElSaeed to step down after describing his decisions as 'radical'.

According to an article posted on the ruling regime's National Democratic Party's official website its struggle with the popular Muslim Brotherhood (MB) opposition movement was "not over".