Nation's Future Party
Nation's Future Party حزب مستقبل وطن | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairman | Abdel-Wahab Abdel-Razeq |
| Secretary-General | Hossam El-Khouly |
| Deputy Chairman | Ashraf Rashad |
| Founders |
|
| Founded | November 2014 |
| Headquarters | Talaat Harb axis, Heliopolis, Cairo[2] |
| Newspaper | Mostaqbal Watan News (online) مستقبل وطن نيوز |
| Youth wing | Nation's Future Youth |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Big tent |
| National affiliation | For the Love of Egypt (2014–2018)[9] |
| Colors | Navy Blue Sky Blue |
| Slogan | "We all are working for Egypt" Arabic: كلنا نعمل من أجل مصر |
| House of Representatives | 316 / 596 |
| Senate | 149 / 300 |
| Website | |
| https://mwatan.org | |
The Nation's Future Party (Arabic: حزب مستقبل وطن), also known as the Future of the Nation Party or Mostaqbal Watan, is an Egyptian political party. The party is often seen as a "party of power", created for the sole purpose of backing President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his policies.[1][10]
Originally a minor party, it has grown to become Egypt's largest political party and currently controls the majority of seats in the House of Representatives and a plurality of seats in the Senate. The dominant role of the Homeland's Future Party in modern Egyptian politics has been compared to that of the National Democratic Party, which ruled from 1978 until the 2011 revolution.[11][12]
History
[edit]Homeland's Future Party was set up in mid-2014 by Egyptian Military Intelligence. Abdel Azim, a former member of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's presidential campaign, told Mada Masr:
An aide to the president in the presidency told me literally, 'The Nation's Future Party was originally the Nation's Future Front, established by Military Intelligence as a youth entity to support the president. It's ours'.
— Abdel Azim, [1]
A student responsible for Homeland's Future Party campaigning in his governorate was interviewed by Mada Masr. He stated that a Military Intelligence officer in civilian clothes frequently delivered cash payments of typically E£20,000 to the campaign office, and later on cheques, including one from the National Bank of Egypt for E£150,000. For each street march, E£15,000 to E£20,000 would be delivered, and young men organised by government agencies would be paid E£100 each to participate in the marches. Instead of being run by volunteers, the campaign office was staffed by civil servants. Campaigning for signatures for Sisi's presidential candidacy by Homeland's Future Party included payments of E£50 to each person signing. Party leader Mohamed Badran took his instructions, according to the interviewee, from Major Ahmed Shaaban of Military Intelligence.[1]
2015 parliamentary election
[edit]The Future of the Homeland Party ran in the 2015 parliamentary elections as part of the "For the Love of Egypt" electoral alliance, which won all 120 party seats in the parliament.[13] It was subsequently allocated 53 seats in parliament, making it the second-largest party after the Free Egyptians Party that won 65 seats, and ahead of the New Wafd Party, Egypt's oldest political party.[14]
2018 presidential election
[edit]In 2018, after all political parties, except for the Ghad Party led by Moussa Mostafa Moussa, failed to field candidates for the presidential election in March that year, calls to merge Egypt's 104 political parties into four or five strong parties increased. In response, efforts to strengthen the presence of powerful parties in the Egyptian political scene, primarily led by the Free Egyptians Party, the Homeland's Future Party, and the New Wafd Party—as well as the Support Egypt Coalition, which holds 400 out of 597 seats in the Egyptian parliament—began.[15]
The Future of the Homeland Party and the For the Love of Egypt alliance announced that that the alliance would merge into the party. Following the announcement, around 50 MPs resigned from their parties in May 2018 and joined the Future of the Homeland Party; most of these came from the Free Egyptians and Wafd parties but there were many independents and other party members.[16]
2020 parliamentary election
[edit]
In the 2020 Egyptian parliamentary election, the Homeland's Future Party grew significantly and won a majority of seats in the House of Representatives and a plurality in the Senate.[10]
2023 presidential election
[edit]In October 2023, President El-Sisi announced that he'll be running for a 3rd term in office in 2023 Presidential election. El-Sisi was in Alliance with the Homeland's Future Party going into the election and he won with 89% of the vote.
Policies
[edit]The Egyptian Armed Forces
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The party supports the Egyptian Armed Forces, believing Egyptians need to unite behind the army and the Egyptian National Police in their fight against terrorism in defence of the nation.[17]
Economic reforms
[edit]Party leaders have often stated their support for the IMF-backed economic reform program, believing it is the only way to help Egypt recover from the effects of the 2011 revolution and to create a modern, powerful Egyptian state despite the resulting hardships.[18]
Foreign affairs
[edit]Reaching out to African states has also been a priority. The party has regularly lobbied the government to improve relations with the African continent, which were arguably non-existent for the latter part of the Mubarak era.[19] The party regularly sends diplomatic delegations to foreign countries in preparation for state visits by the President of Egypt.[20]
Electoral history
[edit]Presidential
[edit]| Election | Candidate | First round | Second round | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| 2018 | Supported Abdel Fattah el-Sisi[a] | 21,835,387 | 97.08 | — | Won | |
| 2023 | In Alliance with Abdel Fattah el-Sisi[a] | 39,702,451 | 89.65 | — | Won | |
House of Representatives
[edit]| Election | Leader | Seats | Government | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | +/- | |||
| 2015 | Ashraf Rashad | 53 / 596
|
 53
|
Majority |
| 2020 | 316 / 596
|
263
|
Majority | |
Senate
[edit]| Election year | Seats won | +/- | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 149 / 300
|
149
|
Majority |
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Bahgat, Hossam (14 March 2016). "Anatomy of an election". Mada Masr. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
- ^ Khaled Dawoud (9 September 2015). "The President's Men: A Rundown of the For the Love of Egypt Coalition". The Atlantic Council. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
- ^ "League of nationalists". Economist.com. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
- ^ "Army chief Sisi, Egypt's new nationalist icon – Middle East Institute". www.mei.edu. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
- ^ Mahdavi, Mojtaba (2020). Whither Post-Islamism: Revisiting the Discourse/Movement After the Arab Spring. Critical Political Theory and Radical Practice. Springer International Publishing. pp. 15–38. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-24758-4_2. ISBN 978-3-030-24757-7.
{{cite book}}:|website=ignored (help) - ^ Perry, Tom. "Egypt's Sisi turns Islam on the Islamists". reuters. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
- ^ "General 'Abdel Fattah al-Sisi". rpl.hds.harvard.edu.
- ^ "Deeper Militarism in Egypt". Middle East Institute.
- ^ ""فى حب مصر": اعتماد 4 منسقين لقوائم القطاعات الأربعة و10 أحزاب مشاركة". Youm7. 21 February 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
- ^ a b "Pro-Sisi party wins majority in Egypt's parliamentary polls". Reuters. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
- ^ Timothy E. Kaldas (17 June 2021). "NDP to NFP: Rebranding or Restructuring Parliamentary Life in Egypt?". Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
- ^ Raafat, Kareem (19 June 2019). "The Nation's Future Party and the problem of creating a ruling party". EgyptWatch. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
- ^ Mai Shams El-Din. "The impossible parliamentary alliance". Mada Masr. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
- ^ "Egypt loyalists take the lead in parliament elections". Reuters. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
- ^ Amr Mohamed Kandil (23 April 2018). "Why parliament's majority 'Support Egypt' coalition aims to merge its parties". Egypt Today. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
- ^ ""مستقبل وطن": 50 نائبًا من "المصريين الأحرار" انضموا للحزب". مصراوي.كوم (in Arabic). Retrieved 4 October 2023.
- ^ "رئيس "مستقبل وطن": نقف خلف القيادة السياسية صفا واحد". 9 February 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
- ^ "رئيس مستقبل وطن: مصر تتوخى الرضا الشعبى فى إجراءاتها الاقتصادية وهذا صعب - اليوم السابع". اليوم السابع (in Arabic). 1 February 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
- ^ EraCore.NET. "حزب مستقبل وطن: على الحكومة توجيه اهتمامها إلى إفريقيا - الصفحة نيوز". alsafhanews.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 21 June 2018.
- ^ "وفد "مستقبل وطن" يشارك الجالية المصرية بأمريكا استقبال السيسي". 3 April 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
