With parliamentary elections approaching, Al-Ahram Weekly opens a series of special pages, reviewing the platforms, candidates and history of the various political parties and issues. In this first instalment, Gamal Essam El-Din highlights the significance of the changes in the NDP's choice of candidates, profiles some of its most prominent members and interviews Ahmed Abu-Zeid, majority leader of the outgoing People's Assembly

The winds of change
Although the complete list of NDP candidates for the coming parliamentary elections will remain a closely guarded secret until next Sunday, the ruling party has disclosed the names of the most prominent hopefuls

Candidates fielded by the NDP include an "iron lady", a diplomat, a controversial cabinet minister and an open critic of the party's own policies

Zakaria Azmi: a parliamentary phenomenon

Youssef Ghali: young and controversial

Amal Othman: the 'iron lady'

Mohamed Abdellah: a diplomat

Prospects for change