The Adl (Justice) Party was formally established in the wake of Mubarak's ouster. Its main founding member is Mostafa Al-Naggar, a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and current member of the Revolutionary Youth Coalition. The party's founding congress was held in Cairo's Azhar Park in May of this year. The party declares that it seeks to protect the goals of Egypt's January 25 Revolution and promote the country's social and economic development. Although it has a liberal platform calling for a civil, free and modern state, the party decided from the outset not to align itself with Egypt's liberal or Islamist camps, calling instead for a “third way.” Upon its formation, some critics argued that the Adl Party was seeking to replace the MB as the main centrist force in Egyptian politics. Al-Naggar, for one, was quoted by independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youmas saying that the Adl Party hoped to “replace” the MB as such. When the MB-led Democratic Alliance and the liberal-oriented Egyptian Bloc were formed earlier this year, the Adl Party refused to join either, although it coordinated to some degree with the former. The party announced that it sought to create what it termed “The Third Path: The Egyptian Centrist Movement”. This initiative, however, never materialized, and the Adl Party remained largely independent. The party witnessed mass resignations shortly after its establishment in late 2011. The reasonfor this was attributed mainly to the party's acceptance of former members of ousted president Hosni Mubarak's now-defunct National Democratic Party (NDP). Some commentators, however, also attributed the resignations to revelations that the party was receiving fundsfrom Hisham Al-Khazindar, managing director of Egypt's largest private equity fund Citadel Capital. Since its establishment, the Adl Party has held several meetingswith Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which has governed the country since Mubarak's ouster, to discuss upcoming elections and other issues. The party again suffered internal ruptures after one such meeting in which Al-Naggar agreed to sign a SCAF-proposed documentthat critics saw as a deadly compromise on the issues of election laws, the longstanding emergency law and the ongoing practice of referring civilians to military courts. The document, signed by Al-Naggar along with representatives of other parties, committed signatories to “fully support”the SCAF in its role as protector of the revolution and custodian of Egypt's transitional period. In response, several Adl Party members issued an official statementcriticising Al-Naggar for the decision. Shortly afterward, Al-Naggar declaredthat he had revoked his signature from the document, adding that he would leave it up to the party's general assembly to decide whether or not to sign on to the document. When the party's general assembly put the issue to a vote, however, a majority agreed to endorse the controversial SCAF document. While the Adl Party participated in several million-man rallies after Mubarak's ouster, it has recently redirected its attention to upcoming parliamentary polls. In recent months, the party has focussed largely on its electoral campaigning and on providing social servicesto low-income segments. Party structure The Adl Party has branchesin every village or city in which there are more than 20 party members. Each branch elects three of its members to establish a branch office, who can remain in office no more than four years. The party president and general secretariat also have the right to appoint branch office members. Governorate branches, meanwhile, include all elected village and city branch members. The governorate branch chooses six members to form its branch office, while the party's general secretariat chooses one governorate branch member to become its coordinator. The party also boasts organisations based on profession or identity (e.g., a women's organization, a youth organization, etc), as well as task-oriented committees (e.g., a media committee, health committee, education committee, etc). Members of each committee are appointed by the party president. The party's higher committee includes: - The party president - The party general secretariat - 50 members directly elected by the general assembly - Presidents of party organisations - Representatives of governorate branches - Party MPs (whose committee membership ends with their parliamentary term) The party's general secretariat, meanwhile, is elected by a 50 percent vote in the general assembly. He or she can remain in the position no more than four years. The party president, too, is elected by a 50 percent vote in the general assembly. The elected president then appoints members of a policy office that must include the party's elected general secretariat. The general assembly includes: - A higher committee - Members of governorate offices - Presidents of party organisations - Presidents of task-oriented committees Parliamentary elections In upcoming parliamentary polls, the Adl Party announcedplans to field candidates in 18 governorates for both the People's Council (the lower chamber of parliament) and the Shura Council (the upper, consultative chamber of parliament). Some candidates will run on the party's list, while others will vie for seats reserved for individual candidacies. The party will reportedly field a totalof 195 candidates. Click here to learn more about the elections rules and dates Relations with other parties The Adl Party has refrained from joining any electoral alliances with other parties. Distancing itself from major electoral coalitions, both liberal and Islamist, it has chosen instead – as mentioned above – to advertise itself as a “third” option. Stance on salient issues According to its party program, the Adl Party adopts a centrist position on most political, economic and social issues. It tries to strike a balance between values associated with the modern civil state and Egyptian society's religious and cultural values. The party believes that the Egyptian people constitute the main source of political authority. It believes that legislation should be forged by the people – following the transition of power to an elected civil authority – to reflect the diversity of Egyptian society. The Adl Party endorses Article 2 of Egypt's constitution, which states that Islam should represent the “primary source” of legislation in Egypt. The party also embraces the concept of citizenship, which holds that all Egyptians are equal before the law, regardless of religion, gender, race or class. All citizens, the party believes, should enjoy equal opportunity vis-à-vis government employment and state appointments. The party also upholds the freedom of belief and religious practice, so long as these do not infringe on the rights of others. It supports human rights based on religious jurisdiction and international agreements, and calls for freedom of expression for all citizens. The party opposes all forms of torture and upholds the citizen's right to privacy in all spheres. While stressing the importance of the rule of law, the Adl Party also advocates the citizen's right to assembly. It also calls for the independence of institutions such as syndicates, unions, organizations and clubs with a view to guaranteeing an active and effective civil society. Notably, the party has endorsed the Azhar document, which states the need for “guiding constitutional principles.” These proposed principals are meant to form the basis for the selection of the constitution preparation committee and set guidelines for the future national charter. Party officials say they want to build an economic system that guarantees equality, development and equal opportunity for all Egyptians, with the private sector playing a leading role while the state merely supervises and organises the process. The Adl Party encourages cooperation between the public and private sectors to build and manage major infrastructure projects. The party aims to achieve national economic development by providing investment incentives and supporting scientific research and development. Egypt's economic system, the party stresses, should be decentralized, transparent and accountable, so as to prevent economic corruption and monopolistic practices. The party sees human resources as one of Egypt's chief assets and therefore strongly believes in developing the country's HR potential. It also calls for the exploitation of Egypt's natural resources as long as no harm comes to the local environment in so doing, and endorses a reliance on new sources of renewable energy. Media image and controversies The Adl Party has been subject to considerable criticism for the alleged inclusion of former NDP members within its ranks. It has also been censured by its political rivals for signing on to a SCAF-proposed document committing signatories to “fully support”Egypt's ruling military council (see above). Key party figures Mostafa Al-Naggar A founding member of the Adl Party, Mostafa Al-Naggar was born in Alexandria in 1980. He has a Bachelor's Degree in dentistry and mass communication from Cairo University and the American University in Cairo, respectively. Al-Naggar hails from a family with traditional MB sympathies, and he himself became a member of the group's youth wing although he eventually left it in 2005. Since his withdrawal from the MB, Al-Naggar has embraced a more “centrist” approach to Egyptian politics, which has largely become the basis for his Adl Party. Al-Naggar also played an active role in Mohamed ElBaradei's National Association for Change(NAC)reform movement. In 2010, Al-Naggar's online human rights advocacy earned him an honorary award from the UNHCR in Beirut, and at one point he served as coordinator for the Arab Journalists and Bloggers Network for Human Rights. Al-Naggar actively participated in Egypt's January 25 Revolution from the outset and was present for the eighteen-day Tahrir Square sit-in that ultimately led to Mubarak's ouster. He was among the first of Egypt's young revolutionaries to call on the Egyptian people to focus primarily on upcoming elections. Amr Al-Shobaky A writer and political analyst, Amr Al-Shobaki obtained a BA in political science from Cairo University in 1984 and a PhDin political science from France's Sorbonne University in 2001. An expert in domestic Egyptian politics and Islamist political movements, he currently works at the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies and is editor-in-chief of Egyptian Affairs (“Ahwal Mesreya”) magazine. He is also the head of the Arab Forum of Alternatives. Al-Shobaki is a founding member of the Adl Party and is currently a member of the party's advisory committee. He plans to run in Egypt's 2011 parliamentary polls for a seat reserved for individual candidacies in the urban Giza governorate. Mona ElBaradei A former chairperson of Cairo University's economics department, Mona ElBaradei is the sister of prominent presidential contender Mohamed ElBaradei. She currently serves as president of the Egyptian National Council for Enhancing Competitiveness. Mona ElBaradei callsfor greater policy transparency, saying that inconsistent policy only serves to discourage foreign investment in Egypt. She strongly criticises the former regime for its tendency to focus on economic growth while ignoring the issue of income distribution. She has consistently called for encouraging small Egyptian businesses and projects and setting national minimum and maximum public-sector wages. Mona ElBaradei was an avid supporterof her brother's 2010 campaign for constitutional reform and has backed his bid for the presidency.
