ABSTRACT
Muhammad Husni Mubarak has encouraged a limited form of political pluralism in order to reinforce presidential power in the face of challenges from the infitah bourgeoisie and forces allied to it and also because his managerial talents are best displayed while balancing off and reconciling the major political tendencies. The evidence suggests that Mubarak was testing Osman and that the latter responded by indicating his loyalty to the new President and his eagerness to comply with Mubarak's wishes. Osman, the preeminent inside operator in the Egyptian political economy since the early 1960s, was far too clever to attempt a head-on confrontation with state authority. The inner core of the political elite includes the President and his closest advisers. The political elite that has emerged since 1981 is, therefore, markedly different, at least at its highest level, from the one that surrounded Nasser and Sadat.
