List of political parties in Egypt

By its constitution, Egypt has a multi-party system, however in practice the National Democratic Party was the long-time ruling party and dominated the Egyptian political arena up until the Egyptian Revolution in 2011 which ousted NDP President Hosni Mubarak. Under Mubarak, opposition parties were allowed, but were widely considered to have no real chance of gaining power. As of February 11, 2011, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has governed Egypt.

On March 28, 2011, the Council introduced the Political Party Law which eases restrictions on the legal establishment of new political parties in Egypt. The legislation has still however been criticized as discriminatory. Under the law new parties are now required to have at least 5000 members from at least ten of Egypt's provinces. Originally new parties were only required to have 1000 members. This would make it harder for new parties to form before parliamentary elections scheduled for September 2011. And new party leaders are required to raise at least LE1 million to publish the names of the founding members in two widely-circulated dailies, seen as favoring wealthier interests. Also no parties are able to form on the basis of religion or class, ruling out the formation of Islamic and labor parties.

History

Emergence of political parties in Egypt in the 20th century was a reflection of social, economic and cultural interactions as well as certain historical, national and political circumstances, leading to the creation and development of modern institutions of government administration and society, such as the parliament, cabinets, political parties, syndicates, etc. This emergence has been gradual and has gone through successive stages. Political parties have firstly been formed as secret societies that were followed by formation of political groups.

The National Party, not to be confused with the later National Democratic Party (NDP), was the first party, formed in 1907 by Scott Crawford. In less than ten years, there was a great variety in these parties; in their nature, formation, organization, power, their popular base and platforms. There were national parties, groups dominated by the royal palace, others formed by the occupation authority as well as ideological parties expressing certain ideologies.

In 1907 - 1920, the already-formed political parties in Egypt were a starting signal for the dissemination of further parties; however, they were restricted due to the British occupation and Egyptian subordination to the Ottoman Empire. The February 1922 Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence and the issuance of the 1923 Constitution led to the establishment of a royal constitutional rule based on party pluralism and the principles of liberal democracy.

During 1923 - 1952, Egypt witnessed a remarkable experience rich in political and democratic practices, however, such an experience was marked with many defects such as the British occupation, foreign intervention in Egypt's affairs and the royal palace's interference in political life. With the outbreak of the July 1952 Revolution, the Egyptian regime worked to liquidate the opposition. In January 1953, an enactment was adopted on disbanding the political parties and adoption of the one-party rule. The enactment of the parties' law in 1977 demonstrated Egypt's political regime officially turned into the era of party pluralism.

Political parties and groups

Egyptian politics are subject to unique circumstances and often defy simple classification in terms of the political spectrum. There are currently over 20 registered political parties in Egypt. Groups are sometimes associated with the political left or right, especially in international circles, according to their stance on issues. While the current Egyptian constitution prohibits the formation of political parties based on religion, there are parties that seek to establish Islamic sharia laws, or uphold the article in the constitution that states that sharia law is the main source of legislation, and others that support the formation of a secular state. The following is a categorization of political parties based on their political and religious orientation, as well as their legal status :

The known parties of Egypt

List of political parties in Egypt

Party name English	Party name Arabic	Political orientation	Religious orientation	Legal status	Founded	Role in Egyptian Revolution	Supported by
National Democratic Party	Al-Hizb al-Watany ad-Dimuqraty لحزب الوطني الديمقراطى‎ا	Politically Authoritarian, Economically Centrist, Socially Liberal, Nationalist, Arab Socialism, Militarist	Secular	Dissolved by the court on April 16, 2011	1978	Opposed	Egyptian Military, Hosni Mubarak, Western Countries, Arab Countries
Egyptian Arab Union Party	Hizb Al Etehad Al Masry Al Araby حزب الإتحاد المصرى العربى	Centrist	Secular	Registered	4 - 2011
Justice Party	Hizb Al-Adl حزب العدل	Centrist	Secular	Registered	5-2011
Arab Democratic Nasserist Party	Al-Hizb Al-Arabi Al-Democrati Al-Nasseri الحزب العربى الديمقراطى الناصرى	Left	Secular	Registered	19-4-1992
Center Party	Hizb Al-Wasat حزب الوسط الجديد	Centrist	Non-secular	Officially recognized in 2011	1996
Conservative Party	Hizb Al-Mohafiz الحزب المحافظ	Right, Conservatism	Non-secular	Registered	12-3-2006
Democratic Front Party	Hizb Al-Gabha Al-Democratia حزب الجبهة الديمقراطية	Liberal, Liberal democratic	Secular	Registered	24-5-2007
Democratic Generation Party	Hizb Al-Geel Al-Democrati حزب الجيل الديمقراطي	Liberal		Registered	9-2-2002
Democratic Peace Party	Hizb Al-Salam Al-Democrati	Liberal	Secular	Registered	2-7-2005
The Democratic Unionist Party	Al-Hizb Al-Itahadi Al-Democrati	Liberal	Secular	Registered	14-4-1990
Dignity Party	Hizb Al-Karama حزب الكرامة	Left	Non-Secular	Awaiting license	Unknown
Egypt 2000 Party	Hizb Misr 2000	Left	Secular	Registered	7-4-2001
Egyptian Social Democratic Party	Hizb ElMasri ElDemocrati ElEktemaii الحزب المصري الديمقراطي الاجتماعي	Liberal, Social liberal, Social Democratic,	Secular	Registered	2011
Egyptian Communist Party	Al-Hizb Al-Sheyoo'ey Al-Masry الحزب الشيوعي المصري	Far-left	Secular	Registered	1975
Egypt Youth Party	Hizb Shabab Misr	Liberal	Secular	Registered	2-7-2005
Egyptian Arab Socialist Party	Hizb Misr Al-Arabi Al-Ashtaraki	Left	Non-secular	Registered	7-7-1977
Egyptian Liberal Party	Hizb Al-Masreen Al-Ahrar حزب المصريين الاحرار	Liberal	Secular	Registered	2011
Al Nour Party	Hizb El-Nour حزب النور	Economically Right, Socially Conservative, Islamist	Non-secular (Salafi Islam)	Registered	2011	Didn't support	Salafi, Saudi Arabia(alleged)
Free Republican Party	Al-Hizb Al-Gomhory Al-Hor الحزب الجمهوري الحر	Liberal	Non-secular	Registered	4-7-2006
Free Social Constitutional Party	Al-Hizb Al-Distouri الحزب الدستوري الاجتماعي الحر‎	Liberal	Secular	Registered	24-11-2004
Freedom and Justice Party	Hizb Al-Horriya Wal-Adala حزب الحرية والعدالة	Politically Islamic Democracy, Economically Liberal, Socially Conservative	Non-secular (Sunni Islam)	Registered	21-2-2011	Supported	Muslim Brotherhood
Freedom Egypt Party	Hizb Masr Alhureyya حزب مصر الحرية	Liberal	Secular	Registered	18-5-2011	Supported
Green Party of Egypt	Hizb Al-Khodr	Liberal	Secular	Registered	14-4-1990
Liberal Egyptian Party	Al-Hizb Al-Misri Al-Liberali الحزب المصري الليبرالي	Liberal	Secular	Awaiting license	Unknown
Liberal Party	Hizb Al-Ahrar	Liberal	Non-secular	Registered	7-7-1977
National Conciliation Party	Hizb Al-Wifak Al-Watany	Left	Secular	Registered	2-3-2000
National Progressive Unionist Party	Hizb Al-Tagammo' Al-Watani Al-Taqadommi Al-Wahdwawi حزب التجمع الوطني التقدمي الوحدوي	Left	Secular	Registered	7-7-1977
The Nation's Party (Egypt)	Hizb Al-Umma حزب الأمة	Left	Non-secular	Registered	26-5-1983
New Wafd Party	Hizb Al-Wafd Al-Gadid حزب الوفد الجديد	Liberal	Secular	Registered	4-2-1978
Party of Liberation	Hizb Al-Tahrir حِزْبُ التَحْرِير	Islamism	Non-secular	Non-registered/banned	1953/1974
The People's Democratic Party	Hizb Al-Shaab Al-Democraty	Liberal	Secular	Currently frozen	15-3-1992
Popular Socialist Alliance Party	Hizb Al-Tahaluf Al-Sha'bi Al-Ishtiraki حزب التحالف الشعبي الاشتراكي	Left	Secular	Registered	2011
Reform and Development Party	Hizb Al-Eslaah Wal-Tanmya	Liberal	Secular	Registered	2011
Social Justice Party	Hizb Al-Adala Al-Igtemaa'yia	Left	Non-secular	Registered	6-6-1993
Socialist Labour Party	Hizb Al-'Omal Al-Ishtraki حزب العمل الاشتراكى‎	Left	Non-secular	Suspended	11-12-1978
Socialist Party of Egypt	ِAl-Hizb Al-Ishtiraki Al-Misri الحزب الاشتراكي المصري	Left	Secular	Registered	2011
Solidarity Party	Hizb Al-Takaful	Right	Non-secular	Registered	5-2-1995
Tomorrow Party	Hizb Al-Ghad حزب الغد	Politically Democratic, Economically Liberal (market based but sensitive to social justice), Socially Liberal	Secular	Registered	27-10-2004	Supported
Workers Democratic Party	Hizb Al-'Omal Al-Democrati حزب العمال الديمقراطي	Left	Secular	Awaiting license	2011
Young Egypt Party	Hizb Misr Al-Fatah	Left	Non-secular	Registered	14-4-1990

The known groups of Egypt

List of political groups in Egypt

Group name (English)	Group name (Arabic)	Political orientation	Religious orientation	Legal status	Founded
April 6 Youth Movement	Harakt 6 Ebreel حركة 6 ابريل	Left-wing	Unknown	Non-registered	2008
Enough	Kefaya كفاية	Left-wing	Unknown	Non-registered	2004
Human Movement for Reform and Change Party	Al-Harakah Al-Insaniyyah Lil-Islah Wal-Taghier	Unknown	Unknown	Awaiting license	Unknown
Society of the Muslim Brotherhood	Jama'at Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslimin الإخوان	Right-wing	Non-secular	Non-registered	1928
Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution	E'telaf Shabab Al-Thawra	Left-wing	Unknown	Non-registered	Unknown
National Association for Change	Al-Jamyaa Al-Watanya Lel-Taghyeer الجمعية الوطنية للتغيير	Unknown	Unknown	Non-registered	Unknown
Revolutionary Socialists	Hizb Al-Ishtrakyyin Al-Thawryyin الاشتراكيون الثوريون	Far-left	Secular	Non-registered	1995

The known political alliances of Egypt

List of political alliance in Egypt

Alliance name (English)	Alliance name (Arabic)	Political orientation	Religious orientation	Legal status	Founded	Member parties
The Egyptian Bloc	الكتلة المصرية	Liberal democracy, Secular	Secular	Unknown	16 August 2011	Free Egyptians Party, Egyptian Social Democratic Party, National Progressive Unionist
National Democratic Alliance for Egypt	التحالف الديمقراطي من أجل مصر	Nationalist, Islamist	Mainly Islamic	Unknown	June 2011	Freedom and Justice Party, Tomorrow Party
Coalition of Socialist Forces	تحالف القوى الاشتراكية	Far-left	Secular	Non-registered	10-5-2011
The Revolution Continues Alliance	تحالف الثورة مستمرة	Center-left	Mainly Secular	Unknown	23 October 2011	Egypt Freedom Party, Egyptian Current Party
Islamic Alliance			Islamist (hardline Salafi)			Al Nour Party, Building and Development Party, Authenticity

See also

• List of political parties
• Liberalism in Egypt

References

قائمة الأحزاب السياسية في مصر political parties in Egypt Official Website (Arabic)