• INTRODUCTION
• ELECTIONS AND POLITICAL SITUATION
• LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
• IMPORTANT POLITICAL ISSUES
• POLITICAL PARTIES
• SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTIES
• OTHER PARTIES

Back to top

INTRODUCTION

Egypt is a presidential republic. Executive power lies with the president, who is also Head of State. The president is elected by popular vote for a six-year term. He in turn appoints the prime minister, council of ministers, governors of Egypt’s 26 provinces and other important posts. President since 14 October 1981 is Hosni Mubarak, who took over from the assassinated Anwar Sadat. Mubarak is currently serving his fifth term as president. He is also the leader of the National Democratic Party which dominates the parliament.

The legislative branch consists of a bicameral system which is in turn composed of the People’s Assembly and the Advisory Council. The People’s Assembly is made up of 454 members, 444 of which are elected out of 222 constituencies by popular vote for five-year terms, and 10 of which are appointed by the president to fill quotas of minorities. Under the constitution, one deputy from every district must be a worker or farmer, although precise definitions of these categories are vague. The advisory council (which indeed only functions in a consultative role) is made up of 264 seats; 176 of which are elected by popular vote for six-year terms, and 88 who are appointed by the president. Ultimate judicial power lies with the Supreme Constitutional Court.

 

Back to top

ELECTIONS AND POLITICAL SITUATION

Presidential elections 2005
The first-ever multi-candidate Egyptian presidential elections were held on September 7, 2005. They were contested by ten candidates who were nominated by their respective parties. The official results are given in the table below.

Candidate	Party	Total Votes	%
Muhammad Husni Mubarak	National Democratic Party	6,316,784	88.6
Ayman Abd al-Aziz Nour	Al-Ghad Party	540,405	7.6
Noman Khalil Gomaa	Wafd Party	208,891	2.9
Osama Abd al-Shafi Shaltout	Solidarity Party	29,857	0.4
Wahid Fakhry al-Uksory	Egyptian Socialist Arab Party	11,881	0.2
Ibrahim Muhammad Abd al-Monem Tork	Democratic Union Party	5,831	0.1
Mamdouh Muhammad Ahmad Qenawi	Social Consitutional Party	5,481	0.1
Ahmad al-Sabahi Awadallah	Umma Party	4,393	0.1
Fawzi Khalil Ghazal	Egypt 2000 Party	4,222	0.1
Al-Said Rifaat Muhammad al-Agroudy	National Conciliation Party	4,106	0.1

29 potential candidates were rejected by the Presidential Election Commission, while other parties chose to boycott the elections by not fielding or endorsing a candidate. While independent election monitors criticised certain aspects of the elections, they were generally held in a calm environment. Criticism includes small-scale voter manipulation and general confusion due to a lack of information. According to official figures, a total of 7,305,036 people out of a registered electorate of 31,826,284 cast their votes, which amounts to 23 percent of registered voters, and about 10 percent of the total population. Of these votes, 7,131,851 or 97.6% were counted as valid. The next presidential elections are planned for 2011.

---

Parliamentary elections 2005
Parliamentary elections, too, were held in 2005. They were held over three rounds in different parts of the country over the period 9 November to 7 December, with each round in turn consisting of two rounds. Every one of the 222 constituencies throughout the country delegates two MPs to the People’s Assembly in a first-past-the-post electoral system. If a candidate fails to obtain an absolute majority in the first round in his constituency, a second-round run-off decides the winner.

Party or affiliation	Seats in 2000 PA	Seats in 2005 PA
NDP	404	311
Wafd	5	6
Tagammu Party	5	2
Nasserists	1	0
Al-Ahrar	1	0
Al-Ghad	6	1
Independent (affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood)	17	88
Other independent	15	24

12 seats remain undecided, as legal procedures are still in progress. Obvious results of the parliamentary elections are a serious decrease in seats for the NDP, which nevertheless retains a majority, and a dramatic increase of seats for members affiliated with the officially-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

Gender representation
The Parliamentary elections in 2005 have been criticised for their very low share of female candidates. Only six out of 444 NDP candidates were women, as was one of the 137 candidates of the Brotherhood movement. Some of the other opposition parties did relatively better, but altogether only about 50 out of almost 5,000 candidates were female, which is reflected in the eventual distribution of seats. As currently there exist no quota mechanisms for the number of women that should be represented in parliament only six women are now in parliament, of whom one was elected and five were appointed. This is a decrease from eight in the previous parliament. Thirteen of the members of the Shura Council (Consultative Council of the upper house of the Egyptian Parliament) are currently women.

---

Constitutional referendum 2007 
On 26 March, 2007, a referendum was held in Egypt to ‘legitimate’ and confirm constitutional amendments, which were passed by the Parliament a week earlier. According to the Egyptian government the voter turn-out was 27,1% and 75,9% voted in favour of the amendments. Opposition groups and human rights groups, however, rejected this saying the estimated participation was around 5%.

The most controversial changes that were approved give the government the means to drive the opposition Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood out of political life. The amendments also put a ban on religious parties and reduce judicial oversight of elections in the future. They also allow Mubarak to dissolve the Parliament unilaterally.

The government called the constitutional changes part of a liberalization process, emphasizing the additional powers granted to the Parliament. But opposition and rights groups said that the amendments were a step backwards in the democratization process and a step away from improving the human rights situation.

---

Upper House elections 2010
On 1 June elections for the Upper House of Parliament (Shura Council) were held in Egypte. According to official results, president Hosni Mubarak’s ruling party won 90 percent of the seats. Human rights groups have said there was widespread rigging in the elections, including assault and preventing observers from entering several polling stations. The election was also marred by violence. Official turnout was reported at just below 14 percent, but rights groups said it was less than 10 percent.

At stake were 88 seats in the Shura Council, of which Mubarak’s NDP won 80. The remaing eight seats went to four opposition parties, which won one seat each, and four to independents. The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypte’s main opposition movement, was the biggest loser in the election. The movement had 14 candidates in the running, which all lost. The movement supported the allegations of vote fraud. 

A third of the Council’s 264 members are appointed by president Mubarak and half of the remaining 176 seats were up for grabs in this election. Traditionally, the Shura Council has been mainly a symbolic body that can only advise on legislation. But recently it was granted the power to oppose legislation. Shura Council elections have never been of great importance either to citizens or politicians in Egypte. But the 2010 municipal election was anticipated by many as an introduction to the upcoming People's Assembly elections in the autumn of 2010 and the presidential elections in 2011.

---

Political situation
The competition for political power in Egypt is strictly limited. The NDP headed by Hosni Mubarak since 1981, is the dominating party in the Parliament. Elections in Egypt are not free nor are they held in line with democratic norms.

Emergency Law renewed 
On 26 May, 2008, the Emergency Law that has been in force since 1981, was renewed by the government for two years. The controversial law allows the Egyptian authorities to detain persons without charge for long periods and to execute searches without warrants. According to the government, the law is necessary in order to fight terrorism. Opponents of the law, however, are saying that the law is used by the Mubarak headed government to arrest anyone who challenges their authoritarian regime and to lock up their political enemies. In the recent past the law was used to arrest members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is considered by the government as a political threat. But also opposition leader Ayman Abd al-Aziz Nour, of the Al-Ghad party became victim to the emergency law. Although he was released in February 2009, he was in prison for almost four years due to his oppositional activities.

Succession of Mubarak
The Presidential election in 2011 will be the second Presidential poll held in Egypt. Hosni Mubarak, the incumbent and ageing (81 years old) President may not run in this election. This opens the door for many other personalities that might be contesting in the poll. The speculations about his succession and the following consequences of such an upcoming regime-change is therefore an increasingly interesting subject of public debate, not only in Egypt but also on international level. Whether Egypt is on the brink of a far-reaching transformation depends in the first place, however, on the profile and characteristics of Mubarak’s successor.

Gamal Mubarak
It is frequently assumed that President Mubarak might install his son, Gamal Mubarak, as the next President. The NDP's policy Secretariat – a powerful and controlling organ within the ruling party – is already headed by Gamal Mubarak. While such a familial succession would hardly be an exception in the Middle East, it is not a done deal (yet). Mubarak, and before him Sadat and Nasser, became all Head of State by virtue of their high position and power within the Egyptian army. Some analysts think that the Egyptian military may not back a President from outside the military. Despite the fact that Gamal's lack of a military background poses a question mark over his prospects, some analysts believe that a smooth familial transfer of power could be accomplished if the son will be eased into position while his father remains in charge. Furthermore, President Mubarak has absolute power to appoint and fire the country's military commanders. So the ability of the military to prevent Gamal of becoming the next President seems absent.

Alternatives
There are, however, some alternatives prominently mentioned in the media. Especially the names of the Nobel price winner Mohamed ElBaradei, and head of the Arab League of Nations, Amr Moussa, often come up as potential candidates to succeed Mubarak. ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has a lot of supporters in Egypt who are all hoping that he can lead Egypt toward democratization. ElBaradei, a critic of Mubarak’s regime, has already confirmed in several media statements that he considers to run for the upcoming Presidency as an independent candidate. He also stated that he was motivated by the prospect of liberating Egypt from generations of autocracy. The chance that ElBaradei will actually become the next Head of State seems, however, very small because of several political obstacles that block his way for a possible candidacy. The most important of these is the constitutional rule, which stipulates that an independent candidate needs the backing of 250 elected representatives, spread across both Houses of Parliament and local councils. These are both dominated by the ruling party, which likely will not support ElBaradei. Despite this, the international stature of ElBaradei in combination with his public calls for democratic reforms in Egypt can exert some pressure on the autocratic regime..

The other name frequently mentioned is that of Amr Moussa, Egypt’s former Foreign Minister, who is popular in Egypt for his criticism of Israel. Some believe that it was due tot this popularity that Mubarak replaced him in 2001. But also for Moussa the support of 250 representatives in the Parliament seems an impossible barrier. A potential candidate who is believed to have a more serious chance to win the post, is - next to Gamal Mubarak - Omar Suleiman. Mubarak trusts hardly anyone and relies on a small circle of loyalists. General Suleiman is one of the few in that circle of people. Suleiman, chief of the Egyptian intelligence services, has developed relations with organizations varying from Hamas to the Mossad, and both nationally as internationally is considered to be one of the most powerful men in Egypt.

 

Back to top

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Violence against Coptic minority
Egypt has recently witnessed an (unprecedented) escalation of violence between the Christian Coptic minority and the Muslim majority of the country. A temporary climax of the violence was reached on 7 January, 2010, when Muslim gunmen killed six Copts after they had celebrated Coptic Christmas-eve. The shooting took place after the worshippers left a church in Naj Hammadi, southern Egypt. As a result of the attack, thousands of Copts gathered on the streets the next days and clashed with Muslims and the police, expressing their anger about the attack. Amnesty International responded to the violence by saying that “The Egyptian government is failing to protect its religious minorities” and urged it “to take positive measures to ensure that the right to personal safety and integrity of Copts and other religious minorities is upheld”. The violence seems to be an accumulation of some serious tensions already existing between Muslims and Copts in the south of Egypt, a region where many Copts live. According to a statement from Egypt’s Interior Ministry, the attack was a revenge for the alleged assault of a Muslim woman by a Christian man in the same town last year. After the rape outrageous Muslims demonstrated for five days, damaging Christian shops and houses.

Forming 10 per cent of the Egyptian population (approximately 8 million on a total of 80 million), the Christian Copts in Egypt are the largest Christian minority in the Middle-East. Copts have often complained of discrimination against them from Egypt's Muslim majority, particularly over acquiring permits for the construction or maintenance of churches. A recent report on religious freedom in Egypt says Coptic Christians face major rights violations and are being increasingly persecuted. The report by the independent rights organization Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) said the government denies Copts the right to build churches or pray at home. It said the homes of some Copts, particularly in southern Egypt, were demolished or closed because the government suspected them of being clandestine churches, and that physical attacks against Copts had continued over the past three months with at least three losing their lives.

Egyptian wall causing tensions along Gaza border
On 9 December, 2009, the Egyptian authorities reportedly have started to build an iron wall along the short border strip with Gaza, in order to cut off the smuggling routes between Egypt and the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip. The vast network of tunnels from Gaza to Egypt, constructed to bypass a crippling Israeli blockade, has become an economic lifeline for the Palestinians, but also a way for Hamas to smuggle weapons into Gaza. This can be used against Israel. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and its border with Gaza is tightly controlled by the military. Egypt controls the southern border of the strip, as was agreed in a security arrangement with Israel. The building of the iron wall is part of Egypt’s policy to tighten the control over its border with Gaza.

In early January 2010, riots broke in the Gaza strip after an international humanitarian aid convoy tried to reach the impoverished Palestinian people but was confronted with Egyptian security forces. These security forces only allow the convoy to enter Gaza through Israel, which often means that the aid will not reach the Palestine at all. The Hamas movement that governs over Gaza responded and called on supporters to demonstrate against both Egypt's interference with the aid convoy and its construction of the underground barrier designed to block tunnels used to smuggle goods and weapons into the Gaza Strip. Several hundred protesters gathered in the city of Rafah and attacked the Egyptian security forces across the border with Molotov cocktails, who in their turn responded with gunfire. As a result of the riots a dozen of Palestinians were injured and one Egyptian border guard was killed.

Egypt is pressured by the West and Israel to keep the border closed and try to block the smuggling routes between the Gaza Strip and the Egyptian Sinai. The Egyptian government, however, has next to the pressure by Western countries another motive to keep the border with Gaza tightly in control. Namely, the fear for the influence of the Shiite Hamas movement, which is considered by Cairo as a movement that tries to create dissent and rebellion against the Mubarak government. It is also seen as an ally of the illegal Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and as an extension of the ultra-orthodox Shiite regime of Iran. On the other hand, Egypt wants to avoid being portrayed as an ally of the Jewish state, because of the fact that the Palestinian struggle with Israel enjoys much support among the population of Egypt and in the rest of the Arabic world. The primary victims of the Egyptian and Israel isolation policy of Gaza, however, seems to be the 1.5 million Gaza inhabitants, which suffer from shortages of basic goods, rather than Hamas. 

 

Back to top

IMPORTANT POLITICAL ISSUES

The economy 
From 2004 to 2008, the Egyptian government aggressively pursued economic reforms to attract foreign investment and facilitate its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. Due to this reform policy, foreign investment in Egypt increased considerably and the GDP increased to an average growth of 7 per cent a year during the period 2006-2008. Further economic reforms are postponed, however, because of the global economic turmoil.

As in many other countries, the international financial and economic crisis has negatively affected the Egyptian economy (particularly since mid-2008). The impact had serious consequences for the economy, but have not directly affected the banking sector. This was due to a number of factors most prominent of which is the limited integration of the Egyptian banking sector in the global financial market. The impact on the real economy has been reflected by several indicators, such as the decline of the GDP growth from 7.2% in 2008 to around 4,5% in 2009 a reduced flow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and a decline in domestic investment. Due to this export-oriented sectors, including manufacturing and tourism have been affected. Furthermore, the prolonged labour market recession and the consequent social deterioration are forming some serious effects of the financial and economic crisis. The most immediate impact of the crisis has been the inability of the labour market to adjust, thus exacerbating the problem of unemployment, and accentuating the position of different groups particularly women and youth. Unemployment, which has been a chronic problem even with the rapid growth of the pre-crisis period, rose in the period 2008-2009. The impact has been more pronounced for women than for men where vulnerable employment among females amounted to 53% compared to 21% for men. To counter the consequences of the economic crisis and to mitigate the slowdown in economic growth, the Egyptian government implemented a .7 billion stimulus package favouring infrastructure projects and export subsidies in 2009, and is considering up to .3 billion in additional stimulus spending for 2010.

Despite the high levels of economic growth in the pre-crisis years, living conditions for the average Egyptian remain poor. This is partly due to the fact that next to the international economic crisis, Egypt is also affected by the increasing global food prices. Several protests and strikes by government employees occurred in Egypt in 2008 following increased food prices and shortages. President Mubarak responded by raising the salary of all public sector employees with 30%. Critics stated that this measure was not taken out of solidarity but rather in order to preserve the support of the fundament of his regime; the government employees, including police and security forces. Since December 2008, the food prices have stabilized and even decreased. But by the end of 2009 analysts of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stated that in developing countries they remain high, which forms a threat for the food security situation of developing countries like Egypt. The economic crisis combined with an almost continuous impending food crisis forms a huge challenge for the Mubarak regime.

Human rights issues
The human rights record of Egypt remains very poor. The emergency law makes it possible for the Egyptian authorities to detain everyone who criticizes or challenges the government, without any juridical justification or fair process. With this law, in use since 1981, several basic rights and liberties are suspended. For the Egyptian government the law is forming an useful tool for controlling and intimidating government opponents. Thousands are detained during the past years without charge - mostly Islamists- some of them for decades. Especially members of Egypt’s largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood felt victim to (long) detentions. The circumstances and treatment in the prisons and police-stations are very ill and a number of deaths in custody, as a result of torture and other ill-treatment, were reported in 2009.

With regard to the freedom of expression over the year 2009, the Egyptian authorities used repressive laws to clamp down on criticism and dissent. Journalists were arrested and prosecuted for defamation and other offences, books and editions of (foreign) newspapers were censored. Restrictions were also imposed on the media. Some foreign satellite television stations were ordered to close their offices in Cairo or had their transmission suspended in Egypt. Several internet websites were blocked and bloggers and others who criticized the government were arrested.

The position of religious minorities has worsened. According to several reports of human rights organizations, violence against the Coptic Christian community in Egypt increased in 2009 compared to previous years. Next to the ongoing discrimination of the Copts, followers of the Bahai religion have also been subject to persecution and even official discrimination. There are, however, some improvements made on the position of the Baha’is. On 16 March, 2009, it was reported that Baha’is were officially granted the right to leave the ‘religious affiliation’ field in their ID’s blank, following a decision of the Supreme Administrative Court, In the situation prior to the court ruling, Baha’is had to function without official documents or list their religion as one of the three that are allowed: Islam, Christianity and Judaism.. Despite this relative improvement in the legal status of Baha’is in Egypt, many problems remain and the Baha’i faith is still not recognized by the regime as a legitimate religion.

With regard to the position of women in Egypt, a law was passed by the Parliament in 2008 that officially banned female genital mutilation. However, circumcision remains a culturally accepted practice in many regions of the country. A 2005 study found that over 95% of Egyptian women have undergone some form of circumcision.

During 2009, Egypt was several times urged by human rights organizations to stop the violence against asylum-seekers and migrants (among them many from Eritrea and Sudan) in the Sinai, who are trying to cross the border and flee to Israel. Human Rights Watch stated that “Egypt has every right to manage its borders, but using routine lethal force against unarmed migrants - and potential asylum seekers - would be a serious violation of the right to life”. Over the year 2009, several migrants and asylum-seekers were shot by Egyptian border guards.

Israel/Gaza
On 27 December, 2008, Israel started an offensive in Gaza, in order to damage Hamas as much as possible. The offensive ended on 18 January, 2009. More than 1300 Palestinians were killed, among which many were civilians. On the other side, 14 Israeli soldiers died in the short war. Next to the killings, the consequences of the Israeli military offensive were devastating for the living-conditions of the people living in the Gaza Strip. Because of the violence, 50.000 people in the Gaza Strip lost their home. Next to this, the infrastructure of the Gaza was severely damaged and shortages of food, supplies and medicine were even more onerous than before.

With regard to Egypt, the Gaza War and its outcome brought the issue of Egypt’s position in the conflict between Palestine and Israel even more prominent on the political agenda of Egypt than before. While the great majority of Egyptians sympathise with the Palestinians, the government of Egypt has adopted a more neutral attitude in order to create a balance between geo-political interests and the popular opinion in Egypt and the Arabic world.

The takeover of Hamas in 2007 combined with the Gaza War of 2008, produces a major dilemma for the Egyptian government in finding a strategy that fits the regime’s interests. On one hand it is not in the interest of Egypt to starve the people of Gaza. In fact, the suffering of the Palestine’s in Gaza places Egypt under unbearable domestic and regional pressure to show support for the Palestinians in Gaza, and to condemn Israel. On the other hand, Egypt shares with Israel the goal of containing radicalism. Egypt considers Hamas as the counterpart of the Muslim Brotherhood, which in the view of the Egyptian authorities can pose a potential threat for the stability in Egypt if not firmly contained within the borders of Gaza. As the recent developments shows, this paradox is forming a challenge for the Egyptian government in bringing the policy towards Gaza, Hamas and Israel in balance with the contradicted external and internal pressure and interests which the Mubarak regime needs to account with.

 

Back to top

POLITICAL PARTIES

Brief history 
During the period between 1922, when Egypt formally gained its independence from the British mandatory power, and the revolution of 1952, Egypt experienced an era of relative political openness in which a certain measure of party pluralism was developed. The most famous party in this period was the Wafd party, which was founded in 1918 as an Egyptian delegation that pleaded for complete Egyptian independence from the British. Following the 1952 revolution that ended King Farouk’s reign end the era of British domination, the Free Officers came to power, of which Nasser soon proved to be the leader. In January 1953, all political parties were disbanded and a one-party system was officially adopted. The ruling party would be called the Liberation Group (1953-1956), the National Union (1956-1962) and the Arab Socialist Union (1962-1976), respectively.

In 1976, Sadat called for the Arab Socialist Union to be split in three parts. The left wing was to be called the National Progressive Unionist Organisation (now usually known as Tajammu`), the central wing would be the Egypt Arab Socialist Organisation (now the NDP), and the right wing would be known as the Liberal Socialist Organisation (now al-Ahrar, the Liberal Party). In 1977, a new law on the formation and existence of political parties was enacted. The new law stipulated party principles should not run counter to the shari`a and preserve national unity, social peace, the socialist-democratic system as well as the benefits of socialism. It also stated that the party should not be formed on ethnic, racial, geographical or discriminatory bases due to sex, origin, religion or creed. Following the signing the peace accord with Israel in 1979, the law further stipulated parties should not be opponents of the peace accord. In effect, these conditions gave the state massive power over the existence of rival political parties, whose founding and functioning could be thwarted and who could be frozen at any time. Two parties that did obtain legal status were the Wafd Party (now known as New Wafd) and the Socialist Labour Party. One more party , the Nation Party, was legalised in the 1980s, while the last 20 years have seen the creation of 14 new parties, bringing the total to 20.

This system has allowed presidents Sadat and Mubarak to claim that Egypt enjoys political pluralism and even democracy, while at the same time manipulating the system to ensure continued supremacy of the NDP. All the other parties are relegated to a role in the very margins of Egyptian politics by the state’s (i.e. NDP) playing them off against each other, harassing them, or freezing them as the situation warrants.

As a result of this history, many of the parties in Egypt are not real political parties in the Western sense of political movements developed by certain segments of society with a particular ideology or programme. The fact that all parties owe their continued existence to the NDP regime means that it is very hard for them to develop into more autonomous political entities. As such, they have been unable to appeal to large segments of the population, even the politically conscious population, which partly explains the popularity of the Muslim Brotherhood and new organisations like Kifaya.

The different parties
Of the 20 parties currently existing in Egypt, there are really only seven main parties. These are parties that have specific ideological orientations, that have a popular base of some size, that carry out political activity in the interest of certain social groups, and that have had parliamentary responsibility. These are treated below. So are the Muslim Brothers, who though officially not a political party have acquired much political power.

 

Back to top

SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTIES

National Democratic Party:
http://www.ndp.org.eg/index_en.htm

The ruling NDP is the only Egyptian member of the Socialist International. Ideologically, Tagammu` is perhaps the party whose views are closest related to Western social democracy. However, because of the very different historical and current political situation, the Egyptian political spectrum is hardly comparable to a typical European left-to-right spectrum.

The National Democratic Party was officially founded in 1978 as a continuation of the central part of the Arab Socialist Union. According to its program the party is committed to the ideals of the 1952 revolution. Apart from ending the monarchy and British dominance, these ideals were the implementation of agrarian reform, nationalization of key industries, a one-party state, and closer ties with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. It is clear that the NDP’s proclaimed continuing loyalty to these ideals exists on paper only. The NDP is further officially committed to political freedom, social justice, and implementing democracy. However, the party is ideologically extremely weak. It lacks further ideological direction which could define it as either left or right, and it does not even live up to its own rhetoric. It is, thus, more a framework of regime domination than a traditional political party. However, the NDP leadership has recently embarked upon a programme of party modernisation and democratisation. A September 2002 party conference, which had as slogan ‘government of the party instead of party of the government’ called for change and political renewal. More people would be elected instead of appointed as had been the case before, and the Policies Secretariat was created to help modernise the party and even, according to its official mandate, de-link it from government. This should be followed with scepticism, however, and the measures seem to be meant to please Western criticism in stead of really being part of a democratization process. As the most recent developments show the NDP seems to be interested in the first place to preserve its overwhelming majority in the Parliament.

---

 

Back to top

OTHER PARTIES

The New Wafd
The New Wafd, created in 1978, is essentially a continuation of the pre-1952 Wafd Party. It is a liberal capitalist party that calls for public freedoms and a maximum reduction of the economic role of the state. It encourages Arab and foreign investment, the liberalisation of foreign trade and the exchange rates, privatisation of certain parts of the public sector. On an economic level, most of the Wafd ideas have been taken over by the NDP. On the issue of political freedom and democratic reform, however, the Wafd is much more liberal than the NDP. 

---

Tagammu Party
Tagammu` was created in 1976 out of the left wing of the Arab Socialist Union. It is a leftist party which calls for the establishment of a socialist society free of exploitation. It believes in a class struggle that should be resolved peacefully and bases its programme upon the goals of the 1952 revolution 

---

 The Nasserist Democratic Arab Party
The NDAP was established in 1992. It is a progressive pan-Arab party that bases its ideology on the thoughts of Gamal `Abd al-Nasser. Its basic goals are freedom, socialism and Arab unity. Economically, the party is committed to a strong public sector, central planning, and a limitation of the control of market forces. 

---

The Socialist Labour Party
The SLP was created in 1978. Its ideology rests on two pillars: Islamic principles and socialism. It calls for an implementation of socialism based on Islam but is less strict in the economic implications of this socialism than other parties. It has in the past entered alliances with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Ahrar Party.

---

 The Ahrar Party
Although it describes itself as socialist because of its origin as the right wing of the Arab Socialist Union in 1976, Ahrar is in essence a liberal party. Its programme is based on capitalist thought and it calls for article 4 of the constitution, which says that the state is based on socialism, to be amended to say instead that Islam is the economic basis of the state, thus protecting legitimate gain. Thus, it attempts to explain its economic outlook through religious justifications, in the same way but with rather different results than the SLP, with which it has in the past formed an alliance.

---

Al-Ghad Party
Al-Ghad was created in 2004 when former Wafd-member Ayman Nour left the party due to disagreements with the party leadership. Its charter was rejected by the Political Parties Committee three times on the grounds that its programme was not sufficiently different from existing parties (i.e. Wafd), before it was approved a fourth time. There has been speculation that al-Ghad was approved to create a competitor to the Wafd Party, thus weakening both. Al-Ghad calls for democratic reform, with an emphasis on secularism and promoting the empowerment of women. It emphasises domestic economic development and is less interested in regional or international policies. Disagreements within the party have weakened it considerably in the latter half of 2005, and it only won one seat in the 2005 parliamentary elections, something that has also been blamed on NDP fraud, particularly in the case of Nour losing his Bab al-Shariya seat. In January 2005, Ayman Nour was arrested on allegations that he forged documents to secure the legal status for his party. Nour is regarded as a potential Presidential candidate. It seems explainable that the government arrested him because he enjoys some popularity and might therefore pose a potential threat for President Mubarak. However, during Nour’s three-year imprisonment and absence from the political scene, Al-Ghad was split by a bitter leadership dispute between Nour’s backers and a rival faction that culminated in the 2008 firebombing of the party headquarters in Midan Talaat Harb. A week before Nour’s release, the Administrative Court of the State Council (Maglis Al-Dawla) named El-Khouly — a member of Nour’s faction — Al-Ghad’s officially recognized leader. According to analysts, by loosing the popular leadership of Nour, the Al-Ghad has lost much of its potency to form a serious challenge to President Mubarak.

---

Minor parties
Other parties, which have so far failed to exercise any significant influence on Egyptian politics, are the Solidarity Party, the Egypt Arab Socialist Party, the Democratic Unity Party, the Free Social Constitutional Party, the Umma Party, the Egypt 2000 Party, the National Accord Party, the Green Party, the Democratic Popular Party, the Democratic Peace party, the Young Egypt Party and the Social Justice Party. Several more parties have requested permission to be legalised as political parties but have so far been refused. 

---

The Muslim Brotherhood
 Although not officially recognised as a political party, the Muslim Brothers have become a political force to reckon with. Founded by Hasan al-Banna in 1928, they quickly achieved a prominent place in Egypt as a popular social movement and rival to the nationalist Wafd. Although its beliefs were initially founded on those of Muslim reformers like Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh who sought to modernise Islam while adopting certain aspects of Western civilisation and political systems, they were increasingly influenced by al-Banna and Sayyid Qutb. The latter especially instigated a massive radicalisation of the Brothers.

A related source of radicalisation was Nasser’s outlawing of the organisation in 1954, forcing it underground and fostering, through the state’s heavy-handed repression, a legacy of bitter opposition to that state. While Sadat from 1971 onwards loosened Nasser’s repressive politics towards the Brothers, his new-found rapprochement has been uneasy and the relationship between the Brothers and the Egyptian state has been ambiguous ever since. On a doctrinal level, however, the Brothers have been distancing themselves from Qutb’s radical ideas since the early 70s. At the same time, they have been building up an impressive system of social services that has allowed to connect with the people at a grassroots level and has in turn given them a certain measure of political power. However, since government policy is never to permit a political party based on religion, the Brothers remain officially banned. They have, however, avoided this problem by having members run in elections as independents; they have thus been able to dominate professional associations and syndicates, and to gain parliamentary seats.

The Brotherhood itself states it is committed to democratic reform and will continue to coordinate with the other opposition parties on this issue. However, its position towards a lot of other issues is still unclear. These issues include the constitution, democracy, the role of women and the status of Copts in Egypt, the banking industry, and more. In that sense, now that they have been elevated to the position of most important opposition group, perhaps more important than any other in Egyptian history, they can no longer hide behind their arguably simplistic slogan ‘islam is the solution’. They will have to come up with more detailed solutions to Egypt’s problems and in the process have the chance to either reinforce or weaken prevalent distrust among seculars, christians and others.

The reality that the Muslim Brotherhood has gained more support among the Egyptian population in the past years, is a fact that cannot be ignored. The success of the Brotherhood therefore needs an explanation. The economic problems of Egypt are next to the highly suppressive and corruptive nature of the Mubarak regime, circumstances in which the Muslim Brotherhood operates most effectively. The Muslim Brotherhood has adopted an agenda in which education and healthcare are playing prominent roles. Because of this social work, something the Egyptian government lacks to do in a proper way for most Egyptians, the Brotherhood gained much support among the population. Besides this, there is another important factor which contributes to the success of the Brotherhood. The movement is very critical about the, in their eyes, pro-Israel policy of the Egyptian government with regard to the Israel-Palestine conflict and the role of the West (especially the United States) in that conflict, and more general, in the whole region of the Arabic world. Due to this,the Brotherhood gains a lot of support from a large group of Egyptians..

Despite support among the Egyptian population, the Brotherhood is not represented in the government nor in the Parliament. Despite the fact that the Brotherhood had won a lot of seats in the last elections in 2005, it is by far not enough to execute real power in Egypt, as the majority of seats belongs to the NDP. The ruling regime does everything in its power to prevent the Brotherhood, and other opposition movements and parties, from gaining influence in Egypt. Therefore the authorities try to create dissent and division inside the Muslim Brotherhood, and try to take out the reformist wing of the Brotherhood. This wing attracts a lot young Egyptians who are fed up with the oppressive regime and consider the reformists’ ideas to be an alternative to this.

The recent elections within the Brotherhood will most certainly affect the direction in which the movement will develop. This is a process which not in the last place is influenced by the counter measures of the government against the Brotherhood. On 16 January, 2010, the Muslim Brotherhood appointed a new leader, Mohammed Badi, who is known as an conservative within the movement. According to analysts the choice for an conservative in stead of a reformist is suggesting that the Brotherhood will put the emphasize more on a social and religious agenda rather than on political activism. The conservative voices within the Brotherhood are favouring less activity on a direct political level, because of the repression such strategy will receive from the authorities Badi himself confirmed the analyse on 19 January, when he stated that "the main goal of the organization's work, lays in the context of changing society, not the government”. He furthermore said that: "with regards to our stance toward the Egyptian regime, we emphasize that the Muslim Brotherhood was never an opponent of the regime". With these statements he indicated that he would avoid to take the Brotherhood in a direction that would confront the government by organising street protests, demanding radical reforms. In contrary, reform-minded members mostly from a younger generation have been pressing the Brotherhood to take a more active political role (with the risk of angering the state). The reformists also want internal changes, such as giving women and young people more representation. Some political analysts believe that the new conservative leader will not be able to inspire the young generation that is longing for drastic political reforms in Egypt.

Back to top