By Amr El-Choubaki Controversy surrounding the idea of creating a new political party has grown. Such a party would compete with the National Democratic Party (NDP) following its dismal performance in the last elections, confront the Muslim Brotherhood, and revive oppositional politics all but absent for years. Many proposals have been made following the thundering resignation of Osama El-Ghazali Harb from the NDP. There have been no such resignations by high-level notables or in the NDP for decades. Some have demanded the formation of a new party that would be a bridge for existent parties, leftist and rightist reformists and even some enlightened figures from the Islamic current. The Egyptian political scene suffers a crisis in its existent parties. There are the weak ones known as the "four primary parties" (Wafd, Tagammu, Nasserist and Ghad) and the ruling NDP, which fully depends on the state apparatus. Many interested in public affairs refuse to join existent parties. Finally, there are reformists who want a party that the "victims" of the lack of democracy in Egyptian parties can join, though no guarantees are given that it would turn out differently to the other parties. Any new party, regardless of its leaders' intentions and political acumen, will turn into a mere number to be added to the 22 extant parties, its hopes of becoming a new reformist alternative dissipating, if it seeks legitimacy from the Parties Committee. It will enter into petty battles over who is the secretary, the governor, and the members of the politbureau. These battles have drained the energy of all parties, while big battles over the rotation of power are closed off by a raft of laws that cripple all but the NDP. Egypt needs a new reformist movement and not a "reformist party". This week's Soapbox speaker is an analyst at the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.
