The Wafd Party's internal battles seem to be descending into the world of soap opera, writes Mona El-Nahhas Noaman Gomaa, 77, the former chairman of the liberal Wafd party ousted last January by the party's Higher Council, this week revealed that he intends to publish a daily newspaper under the name Wafd. It will, he said, replace the party's current mouthpiece Al-Wafd. Gomaa said he had reached his decision because Al-Wafd had failed to cover the power struggle within the party objectively. Following the coup against Gomaa, the former chairman was able to suspend the publication of Al-Wafd for a week after his name was removed from the masthead. The paper only reappeared after arbitration by the Supreme Press Council, and then only on Gomaa's condition that it adopts a neutral position on the ongoing power struggle within the party. Gomaa also demanded Sayed Abdel-Ati be appointed co-editor alongside Abbas El-Tarabili. Announcing the new publication, Gomaa claimed that it will be the party's sole legitimate mouthpiece and invited the current staff of Al-Wafd to defect en masse to the new paper with the exception of the two editors and the managing editor Magdi Sarhan. They, Gomaa informed the Supreme Press Council, should now be considered dismissed. Gomaa also sent a letter to Al-Ahram Organisation for Publication requesting that it stop printing Al-Wafd, currently issued by Mustafa El-Tawil, the party's temporary chairman until June's general assembly elects a new chair and a Higher Council. Having dismissed the two editors, Gomaa searched for a replacement offering the post to several prominent journalists. They all refused, saying they did not want to become embroiled in the increasingly bitter power struggle. The fact that the party's finances remain in a state of limbo until the power struggle is settled is also likely to have informed their decisions, though Gomaa claims the candidates were all pressured to refuse the job. Mohamed Sarhan, deputy chairman of the Wafd party, believes "Gomaa now has nothing to do but to make hollow statements which are not going to detract the party from its march towards reform". Gomaa's latest move has dampened any hopes that the party's differences could be settled amicably following last week's attempts by prominent Wafdist figures to mediate between the warring factions. The "Third Way Group", as the mediators call themselves, had attempted to facilitate talks between the opposing factions in the belief that only a negotiated settlement could save the party. In the wake of Gomaa's dismissal and the uncertain legal status of any successor banks moved quickly to freeze the party's accounts and have refused to honour cheques signed by any of the warring Wafdists, leaving the party in an acute financial crisis. To compound the situation the Political Parties Committee, which in the past has been more than willing to step into internal disputes, refuses to intervene. According to the Committee, the two camps should settle matters among themselves or else appeal to courts. The latter course, say the Third Way Group, means the dispute may take years to resolve. The initiative of the group has not been welcomed by the Higher Council, which, claims the Third Way, represents no specific trend within the party. "Any suggestion submitted by such a group giving Gomaa the right to nominate himself for the chairmanship in the elections scheduled in June will not be accepted by the Higher Council," coup leader Mahmoud Abaza said during last Thursday's general assembly which amended the Wafd's internal statutes to curb the power of the party chairman. Under the amendments, approved by 98 per cent of assembly members, the party's Higher Council will for the first time be able to question the chairman. Chairmanship of the party, moreover, is now restricted to a four- year-term, with no candidate allowed to nominate himself for more than two consecutive terms. Nor can the chairman, under the amended statutes, expel any party member without the approval of the executive bureau. Following the amendments reformists pledged a radical overhaul of all party structures, beginning with the election of a new 2,500 strong general assembly. "Elections to branch committees in the different governorates, whose members constitute a majority of the general assembly, will begin next week", said El-Sayed Badawi, secretary-general of the Wafd Party. A copy of the new statutes was submitted on Sunday to the Political Parties Committee. Gomaa moved quickly to refute the legitimacy of last week's general assembly, arguing that any changes made in his absence were null and void. It was a startling U-turn, given that Gomaa had earlier pressed for the holding of Thursday's assembly, only withdrawing his support when it became clear the meeting would seek to curb the power of the chairman of the party. A day before the general assembly Gomaa placed notices in national newspapers declaring that he had decided to delay the date meeting, claiming lists -- including the names of assembly members -- needed to be sorted out.
