Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak will seek a sixth term in office in an election planned for next year, a senior official in the country's ruling party was quoted Friday as saying, DPA reported.
Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt for nearly 30 years, had not named a successor, but recent health problems have revitalised debates over the country's future after his reign ends.
The president has not appointed a vice president to succeed him, but Mubarak's son Gamal, who is a top official in the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), is rumoured to be a possible candidate for the post.
"The next president will be Mubarak, and the party's candidate is Mubarak," said NDP spokesman Ali Eddin Hilal, according to the state- run al-Ahram newspaper.
The president himself has not stated clearly his future plans, but Mubarak has vowed to continue serving as Egypt's leader until his "last breath."
Earlier this month, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit signalled the 82-year-old president may run again.
"When we elect the president of Egypt in 2011, I believe it will be President Mubarak," Aboul Gheit said.
According to the NDP's official website, the formal nomination process will not take place until a month or two before the presidential election, expected in the second half of 2011.
Egyptians will first vote in parliamentary elections in late November and the NDP is expected to retain its grip on the legislative body. The Egyptian former International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei - himself once rumoured as a possible rival to Mubarak - has called for a boycott of the parliamentary elections.