Murad Mowafi, a former head of the General Intelligence, and Ahmed Gamaleddin, a former minister of interior, are two of the figures behind the National Alliance, a broad political grouping that is seeking to contest the parliamentary elections. Amr Moussa, head of the 2014 constitution-drafting committee and a long-serving foreign minister, is also involved. The National Alliance's aim is to secure a large bloc to support newly elected President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi in parliament. Some have voiced fears that it will revive the structures of the National Democratic Party (NDP), which until Mubarak's ouster and the NDP's dissolution served as the regime's parliamentary front and de facto ruling party. Should the alliance win a majority of parliamentary seats it will be eligible to form the government. The alliance's leading figures have held two meetings over the past two weeks. In addition to Moussa, Mowafi and Gamaleddin, the meetings were attended by Egyptian Social Democratic Party Chairman Mohamed Abul-Ghar, Al-Wafd Party Chairman Sayed Al-Badawi, Al-Tagammu Party Chairman Sayed Abdel-Aal, and the former chairman of the Congress Party Mohamed Al-Orabi. Moussa, says Al-Orabi, is in contact with a number of other parties which he hopes will join the alliance in providing a legislative umbrella for Al-Sisi. The alliance already includes the Congress Party, Free Egyptians Party (founded by businessman Naguib Sawiris) and the branch of the Tamarod movement led by Mahmoud Badr. It is also likely to include Al-Tanami, the Arab Nasserist Party and also the National Movement Party founded by former presidential candidate Ahmed Shafik. Veteran political activist and Al-Dostour leader George Ishak is alarmed. “We had hoped for a democratic parliament not an exercise in window dressing,” he told Al-Ahram Weekly. “Such an alliance is a dangerous development. It is far from being a coalition of political parties.” “Al-Tagammu,” insists Abdel-Aal, “will take part in any civil coalition that helps stop the Muslim Brotherhood from entering parliament”. Political analyst Hassan Nafaa warns the alliance could have the opposite effect. The inclusion of so many Mubarak-era figures in the group could, he says, provide the Brotherhood with popular momentum. “The idea behind the alliance is totally undemocratic,” Nafaa told the Weekly. “It is the return of the National Democratic Party, though in a new guise and with new faces.” A bloc whose raison d'etre is to support the president in parliament regardless of his policies or decisions, he warns, can only undermine parliament's supervisory role. “The alliance will embarrass the president if it doesn't win a majority of seats. And the inclusion of so many Mubarak-era figures will give the impression that the new president shares their political orientation.” Al-Sisi, says Nafaa, must make clear whether or not he supports the political and moral positions adopted by the new group. Ishak discounts speculation that Shafik's party will join the alliance. “I'm aware of the rumours. But if Shafik's party were in the alliance it would fail and Moussa is smarter than that.” Moussa's name is being touted as a likely parliamentary speaker should the National Alliance win a majority. Al-Watan daily quoted sources saying the alliance will field 600 candidates in the upcoming elections, an unlikely suggestion given that a cabinet meeting held by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb on Wednesday evening endorsed a reduction in the number of seats in the House of Representatives from 630 to 567. Mahmoud Fawzi, spokesman of the technical committee mandated to amend Egypt's parliamentary election laws, says of the total 567 seats, 420 will be reserved for independents. Only 120 seats will be contested by party based candidates. The remaining 27 will be occupied by presidential appointees. Political parties have slammed the distribution of seats. They argue that independent candidacies favour traditional networks of power, such as those maintained by the National Democratic Party and the Muslim Brotherhood, based on wealth, direct favours and tribal affiliations.
