When party chairmen take up arms enough is enough, writes Ibrahim Nafie Last week's events at the Wafd Party's headquarters were scandalous. They have besmirched the reputation of what was once the party of Egyptian nationalism. The Wafd Party began to be mired in problems following the decease of its historical leadership, represented by Fouad Serageddin. The crisis deepened when Noaman Gomaa took over the helm of the party. The new president's style of dealing with problems served only to exacerbate them. It is incomprehensible how a legal professor, and one-time dean of a law faculty, could lead a group of armed men to take control of the party's headquarters. The result was a scene that discredits the nation's political life and calls into the question the future of political pluralism. The battle that took place at the headquarters has sullied the image of Egypt in international eyes. Someone who resorts to such methods is not fit to lead a political party. What must be done now is to hold those responsible to account and enforce the party's by-laws so that a new leadership capable of heading the party in the coming phase can be elected. Egypt's opposition parties are in desperate need of a model of democratic administration. Without acceptance of the principle that the post of party presidents be rotated all claims to boosting democracy and plurality in Egypt will fall. When opposition parties settle their differences with bullets and rely on thugs then the future of politics is jeopardised. As we embark on a democratic path the last thing we can afford is the chaos the mob mentality invariably wreaks. The situation ended with Gomaa, former chairman of the Wafd Party, behind bars, together with his deputy, lawyer Ahmed Nasser. They have been remanded in custody for four days pending investigations. Dozens of charges have been made against them including intent to kill and the possession of arms and explosives, charges that normally one expects to be levelled at terrorists and not politicians. Before the current debacle within the Wafd Party, other opposition groups, including Ghad, Labour and Nasserist parties, had been plunged into chaos. It is an intolerable situation that compromises the push towards democracy. Before the July Revolution Egypt's political life, whatever else its faults, could at least encompass plurality, acceptance of others and the rotation of power. Now it seems that pluralism is a frightening prospect, and the rotation of power is something that those who have attained such positions are unwilling to condone. Our political culture is, in short, chronically disabled. The most worrying aspect of the disease is the cult of personality and the desire of holders of office to retain their positions come what may. Party leaders refuse to leave office regardless of whether or not they have anything to offer the party or are representative of the views of other members. They surround themselves with narrow-minded cliques and seem perfectly content to destroy their parties rather than allow any one else to have a say in their running. Tragically, the state of Egypt's political parties is symptomatic of a wider malaise that has infected every level of society. Legal provisions no longer act as a deterrent, and we have been reduced to the law of the jungle as people resort to force to exercise their own rights and usurp those of others. The tragedy in the case of the Wafd is that the person who resorted to such tactics is the former dean of the faculty of law, a man who last year put himself forward for the post of president of the republic.
