News that President Mubarak has resigned as the head of the NDP (the ruling National Democractic Part) was apparently false. But other reshuffling and resignations within the party took place as part of a series of arrangements intended to separate the ruling party from the state. Primarily, Gamal Mubarak was removed from his post in the party as Head of the notorious Political Bureau, formed in the early 2000`s largely to prop up Gamal. In fact, this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the changes, resignations, and replacements that are taking place right now within the NDP.
The first response so far from protesters and opposition figures is that, well, this is insufficient. Short of the departure of Mubarak as President of the republic, the protesters will not rest. However, there is much talk about how a great number of rising leaders within the protest movement who are thinking of ruling formulas beyond the removal of Mubarak (see list of demands below, hanging on a building in Cairo--translation underneath). After all, Gamal is to be replaced by HMO baron and health-care privatizer Hossam Badrawi, not an acceptable figure among protesters, to say the least.
Finally, the move is more meaningful in form rather than in content. Real power does not rest squarely or even mainly in the ruling party. If anything, this move will embolden the local protest movement.
Translation (Thanks to Jadaliyya Co-Editor Nadya Sbaiti)
"Our demands: the President`s downfall, Parliament`s dissolution [end to the fraudulent parliament and the shura], the immediate end of the "state of emergency," the formation of a single, national, transitional government, an elected Parliament that undertakes constitutional amendments and holds presidential elections, immediate trial of those responsible for the deaths of our revolution`s martyrs, speedy trials for the corrupt and [usurpers?] of the nation’s resources."