Talaat al-Sadat, the last head of Egypt's now disbanded former ruling party, died of a heart attack at the age of 64 in Cairo on Sunday, state television reported.
Al-Sadat, a nephew of late president Anwar al-Sadat, took over the leadership of the National Democratic Party (NDP) after a popular revolt forced Hosny Mubarak to step down as president in February, dpa reported.
He pledged to rejuvenate the disgraced party and "purge" it of allegedly tainted members.
But in April, a court ordered the dissolution of the NDP and the transfer of its assets to authorities. Weeks later, he set up an opposition party.