Egyptian Wafd Party
Egyptian Wafd Party Hizb al-Wafd al-Jadid حزب الوفد الجديد | |
|---|---|
| File:New Wafd Party logo.jpg | |
| Chairman | el-Sayyid el-Badawi |
| Founded | February 8, 1983 |
| Headquarters | Giza |
| Newspaper | AlWafd |
| Ideology | Liberal Democracy |
| Colors | Green |
| Website | |
| www.alwafdparty.org | |
The New Wafd Party ("New Delegation Party"; Arabic: Hizb al-Wafd al-Jadid حزب الوفد الجديد) is a nationalist liberal party in Egypt. It is considered to be one of the main opposition parties, and so its involvement in Egyptian politics is considered crucial in the success as well as legitimization of any political decision.
It is the extension of one of the oldest and historically most active political parties in Egypt, Wafd Party, which was dismantled after the 1952 Revolution. The New Wafd was re-established in 1983. It follows almost the exact party line of the former aristocratic party during Egypt's Liberal Experiment in the 1920s.
In the last legislative elections in November and December 2005, the party won 6 out of 454 seats in the People's Assembly.[1]
Numan Gumaa was presidential Wafd candidate. He received 2.9% of the total votes.[2]
El-Sayyid El-Badawi is the party chairman after winning Al-Wafd's internal election in 28 May 2010 against Mahmoud Abaza, who was the party chairman after succeeding Numan Gumaa back in 2006.
Goals
The party presses for introducing political, economic and social reforms, promoting democracy, ensuring basic freedoms and human rights and maintaining national unity.
The party also calls for abolishing the emergency law, solving the unemployment and housing problems, upgrading the health services and developing the education system.
Party Platform
The party platform calls for the following:[3]
- Political reforms
- Democracy based on the multi-party system.
- Maintaining national unity.
- Protecting political freedoms and human rights.
- Independence of the judiciary.
- Abolishing the emergency laws.
- Economic reforms
- Stabilizing economic legislation and rationalizing public consumption.
- Enhancing the role of the private sector.
- Developing the public sector.
- Developing the production sector.
- The opening of foreign banks in Egypt.
- Price stabilization.
- Social reforms
- Modernizing agriculture.
- Upgrading health services.
- Raising the efficiency of laborers and introducing new laws to protect labor rights.
- Foreign policy
- The party seeks a just and durable peace in the Middle East:
- believes Israel has breached the Camp David Accords.
- focuses on solving the Palestinian question.
- Advocates Arab unity.
- Seeks to highlight and deepen Arab and Islamic relations.
- Underlines the need for Egyptian-Sudanese integration.
- Seeks to develop Egyptian-African relations.
- Promotes neutrality and non-alignment.
2006 Turmoil
Early in December 2005, the party appeared in crisis following the parliamentary elections, when party chairman Numan Gumaa dismissed prominent party leader and vice chairman Monir Fakhri Abdel Nour following the poor performance the party showed during the elections.
Abdel Nour was also the leader of the opposition bloc in the outgoing parliament before losing his seat in the first stage of elections. Abdel Nour told the media before his dismissal, that the only way the party could improve would be by "changing its leadership". He also continued that there was much support within the party for such a change.
After the 2005 Egyptian Presidential elections, the Wafd Party was split into to camps after Gomaa's poor showing, with one group demanding that Gomaa leave his post as chairman. That demand became even more pronounced after the party also did poorly in the parliamentary elections.
Later in December 2005, the party's higher political board reverted Gumaa's decisions on firing Abdel Nour as well as other members. The higher board also elections for its membership and amended its internal by-laws and rules, especially those that give the party's chairman vast authorities in an aim to trim the chairman's political powers, all of which Gumaa has agreed to support.
On January 18, 2006 the supreme committee for the party ousted its chairman Numan Gomaa from the party and from the presidency of the board of al-Wafd newspaper. The committee attributed its decision to Gomaa's tyrannical behaviour and abuse of authority.
It also appointed his deputy Mahmoud Abaza as an interim Chairman for a period of 60 days after which the General Assembly of the party would be invited for an emergency meeting to choose a new chairman.[4]
However, Gomaa contended that this decision contradicted to the party's statute and that he was the legitimate chairman who can be dismissed only by a decision of the party's General Assembly. He responded by filing a complaint to Egypt's Prosecutor General who ruled that Gomaa should be allowed access to party's headquarters. Abaza filed an urgent lawsuit asking that the Prosecutor General’s ruling be overturned.[5]
The party's newspaper was suspended for 13 days (from January 27th till February 8th, 2006) after Gomaa asked Al Ahram publishing house to stop printing the paper and fired its editor and some journalists, complaining of their allegiance to Abaza’s group.[6]
On February 10, 2006 the party's General Assembly agreed to dismiss Gomaa from Wafd presidency and appointed Mustafa al- Taweel (a member of al-Wafd supreme committee) as an interim president till the next elections on July 2006. Gomaa argued the decision was due to an earlier ruling by Giza's court of first instance to stop the General Assembly meeting.
On April 1, Gumaa and his supporters occupied the party's headquarters to reclaim control and opened fire on supporters of the rival faction who responded by throwing stones. Twenty three people were injured and fire broke out in the building but was brought under control. Egyptian authorities arrested Gumaa and some of his supporters.[7]
2010 Party Elections
In May 2010, The Party's Deputy chairman Fouad Badrawi, the grandson of Wafd's late leader Fouad Serageddin announced that he is withdrawing his name from the nominations for party presidency to allow El-Sayyed El-Badawi, a member of the party's supreme authority and the party's former secretary general, to run instead in the party elections scheduled by the end of the month.[8]
In a rare occurrence in Egyptian partisan life, the elections were conducted in a transparent, peaceful and characterized by integrity. At its end, it was announced that El-Sayyed El-Badawi would be the new party chairman, with the outgoing president standing beside him. [9]
Since his election, ElBadawi has met with many prominent figures in Egyptian life, ranging from politicians, current members of parliament, Muslim and Coptic religious figures and even actors, actresses and football players.
To many observers, the Wafd merged as a much stronger party after this election, which would be counted that would once again attract liberals who were losing grip in the current political map to Islamists and other extremists.
Role after 2011 protests
After the 2011 Egyptian protests forced President Hosni Mubarak to announce that he would step down in the coming elections, the government invited opposition parties to participate in dialogue. The party's secretary-general accepted on condition that protesters would not be attacked. [10]
Representatives of the Al WAFD Party joined anti-Mubarak protesters in Tahrir Square and vowed not to have a dialogue with government officials until President Mubarak relinquishes his office. (11)
Prominent party figures
- Numan Gumaa - Former Chairman and 2005 presidential candidate.
- Monir Fakhri Abdel Nour - Longtime serving Coptic Parliament member, politician and current Party Vice Chairman.
See also
- Wafd Party
- Egypt's Liberal Experiment
- Liberalism
- Contributions to liberal theory
- Liberalism worldwide
- List of liberal parties
- Liberal democracy
- Liberalism in Egypt
References
- ^ Egypt Update - European Forum
- ^ "Mubarak declared winner in Egypt poll". Al jazeera. 2005-09-09.
- ^ http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/Politics/Parties/Parties/041102000000000002.htm The Wafd Party from Egypt State information service
- ^ http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/060119/2006011901.html Egyptian al-Wafd party removes chairman Nuuman Jumaa.
- ^ http://www.egypttoday.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6348 Kicked out.
- ^ http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2006/January/middleeast_January870.xml§ion=middleeast&col= Egypt opposition newspaper stops publishing amid leadership row.
- ^ http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=4365 Political Clashes in Egypt Injure 23
- ^ http://news.egypt.com/en/2010050510634/news/-egypt-news/el-badawi-to-run-for-egypt-wafd-presidency.html
- ^ http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/opinion/clean-election-process-lesson-wafd-party
- ^ http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/02/03/egypt.protests/index.html?hpt=T1 CNN, 3 February 2011
11. http://english.aljazeera.net
