CAIRO: Egyptian calls for rejecting the inheritance of power in Egypt to President Hosni Mubarak’s son, Gamal, have moved from online activism to the streets, and quite literally. A group of unknown activists wrote on the walls of a major highway that intersects 6th of October City with Giza’s Mohandiseen neighborhood graffiti against the alleged succession plans of the government.

In their writing on the walls of the highway, they wrote that they rejected Gamal Mubarak as his father’s successor and criticized the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) for moving ahead with apparent intentions of putting the younger Mubarak into the country’s top job.

The phrases on the walls of both sides of highway included statements that read: “no to Gamal Mubarak and no to succession of power.” The words were repeated throughout the strip of highway with barriers. They also wrote “no to Gamal Mubarak, no to Corruption” and “we refuse the colonization of the National Party.”

Succession has become a tenuous issue in the country, with most observers believing Gamal will take over after his father leaves office in 2011. Activists have demanded that this hereditary power, akin to Syria’s transfer from Hafez al-Assad to his son Bashar, not take place in Egypt.

“We have had Kings and Pharaoh’s before, so why do we need to do this in the modern age,” said Kefaya (Enough) cheif Abdel Haleem Qandeel. “Egypt wants democracy and freedom and the government continues to act as if they can do whatever they want.”

The graffiti surprised onlookers over the past few days, but have raised the debate and heated discussions between citizens, some of whom have praised the courage of those who wrote the words rejecting Gamal Mubarak on such a popular main road, while others stressed that those words would be wiped out before noon of the day it was written.

“I was shocked to see them written and surprised that the government had not covered them up yet,” said 6th of October resident Amira. She believes if the artists are found, “who know’s what the regime will do to them.”

Groups rejecting Gamal’s alleged succession have continued to spread on Facebook, notably the “We don’t want Gamal Mubarak” group, which is the largest of the anti-succession groups on the social network. It has some 11,000 members.

Others have cropped up, with names such as “Compromisers of the Egyptian nationality,” which stated that “life without the Egyptian nationality is better than a nationality of which there is an inheritance of power.”

Pro-Mubarak groups have also sprouted, especially those pushing for the younger Gamal to take over as president. They have called on the NDP to nominate him as a candidate in the upcoming presidential election and are growing by the thousands monthly. The most popular pro-government Facebook group is “Gamal Mubarak should be the president if you want a better, brighter future.”

On the group, it reads “Gamal, you are not a dream, you’re a must and Egypt is beautiful with Gamal.”

**reporting by Mohamed Abdel Salam

BM