Will elections within the Wafd Party be enough to heal internal splits, asks Shaden Shehab The new leadership of the liberal Wafd Party was determined that last week's elections would mark an end to the months of chaos that followed the sacking of former chairman Noaman Gomaa. The elections, leading members of the party insist, are the first step in a process that will see the party reform and renew itself. Yet following the results several members alleged that candidates had been levered into a number of leading posts, opening up the possibility of future struggles. Gomaa has, in the meantime, vowed that he will ever abandon his struggle to "get rid of the people who stole the party". An estimated 70 per cent of party members turned out to elect 55 members of the Wafd's high committee last Friday. Mahmoud Abaza, 58, stood unopposed in elections for the chair of the party, and will, in his new capacity, appoint a further 10 members to the high committee. According to the party's statutes, amended after Gomaa's dismissal, the chairman will serve for four rather than six years. The high committee went on to hold a meeting on Monday to select the 15 members of the party's politbureau, including three deputy chairmen and the secretary-general. Fouad Badrawi, Mohamed Sarhan and Yassin Tageddin will all continue in their position as deputies. The surprise of the day came, though, when Sayed El-Badawi was replaced by Mounir Fakhri Abdel-Nour as secretary-general. Abdel-Nour and Abaza led the reformists who ousted Gomaa. Yet sources close to El-Badawi claim that he had been told he would retain his position as secretary- general in return for not running against Abaza, a move that many feared would split the party. "They betrayed him. Abaza and Abdel-Nour met members of the high committee persuading them to vote for Abdel-Nour and not El-Badawi," said one source. Abdel-Nour won by a single vote more than El-Badawi. "These allegations are all nonsense. No secret deals were made," Abdel-Nour told Al-Ahram Weekly. "The elections were democratic, and the members of Egypt's oldest party were determined to show they were serious about internal reform and unity," said Abdel-Nour. Some 1,471 out of 2,095 registered members voted. Unity, though, may well prove elusive. Last week, in response to the case brought by Gomaa, the administrative court judged that the Political Parties Committee's recognition of Mustafa El-Tawil as interim chairman of the party following Gomaa's ouster was null and void. The Wafd's general assembly elected El-Tawil as temporary chairman on 2 March, assuming Gomaa's duties until last week's elections. The Political Parties Committee, which had repeatedly refrained from interfering in what it said were internal party matters, based its recognition of El-Tawil as chairman on a 29 March court ruling acknowledging the legitimacy of the general assembly that had elected him. The Political Parties Committee has not commented on the recent ruling. In a press conference following the ruling Gomaa said the post of chairman was like that of the pope; he could be removed from office only by death or resigning. Gomaa insists he remains the legal chairman of the party. Abaza, on the other hand, argued that the court ruling concerned the Political Parties Committee and not the Wafd. The election of a new chairman, was, he said, an internal party matter and that the general assembly has the last say in selecting its chairman. "The party has turned over a new leaf," Abaza said on Friday. "There will be greater democracy inside the party, and we will listen to the opinions of others. We have a specific reform plan, to be implemented within the party, and nationally." Gomaa was dismissed as chairman by reformers within the party's High Committee on 18 January. They cited his "disgraceful" showing in the presidential elections and the party's poor performance in subsequent parliamentary elections, when it won only six seats, as the reasons for his ouster. His dictatorial style, they said, had alienated public support. Gomaa at first responded by questioning the legality of his opponents' actions and denouncing them as US agents. Then, on 1 April, Gomaa and 14 of his supporters were arrested after storming the party headquarters. The 10-hour battle left offices ablaze and 28 people injured.
