Opposition parties are scrambling to unify their ranks before the ruling party's late September annual conference. Gamal Essam El-Din reports Participants at a major opposition conference held yesterday pledged to mobilise the Egyptian public over the next 15 months to fight for constitutional amendments that would help dismantle the ruling National Democratic Party's (NDP) 26-year monopoly over the nation's politics, and provide for free and open presidential elections. The chairmen of 11 opposition parties decided to create a joint general-secretariat -- including representatives of opposition political parties and civil society organisations -- to help achieve those goals. Held at Wafd Party office in the Giza district of Doqqi, the meeting was a rare occasion for tens of activists from a spectrum of political forces and civil society organisations to come up with a unified strategy. The die for the meeting had been cast on 24 August, when Noman Gomaa, Rifaat El-Said and Diaaeddin Dawoud -- the respective leaders of the liberal-oriented Wafd, the leftist Tagammu, and the Arab Nasserist parties -- met to discuss the urgency of reforming what they termed Egypt's fossilised political and socio- economic structures. The timing of the move was significant. According to Gomaa, the two major political events taking place in Egypt over the next year -- the presidential referendum and parliamentary elections -- dictate that political forces and civil society unite to initiate a unified liberal constitutional and legislative reform agenda. "Unless we take this step," Gomaa said, "the ruling NDP will continue to monopolise political life and quash all rival political forces." The Nasserists' Dawoud called yesterday's conference part of a broader plan of action the three leading opposition parties had mapped out over the last few months. "We decided that the first stage would include calling representatives of legitimate and official opposition parties to a general conference aimed at discussing the country's political future," he said. The second stage would expand the paln of action to include representatives of civil society organisations and members of "frozen" political groups such as the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamist-oriented Labour Party. The important thing, in Dawoud's view -- and in light of "America's pressure for political reforms in the Middle East" -- is that "all reform initiatives be organised jointly, and that the secretariat be their authorised voice." The result would be far preferable to the chaotic fray of differing opposition voices already out there, each offering their own reform platform. Tagammu Secretary-General Hussein Abdel-Razeq agreed with Gomaa about the landmark nature of 2005. The presidential referendum, in his view, was especially significant. "Ahead of 2005, the opposition's reform programme aims to mobilise the Egyptian public to press for amending the constitution, opposing the notion of the presidency being passed from father to son, and [demanding] that a free and direct presidential election be held to choose the country's next leader," Abdel-Razeq said. President Hosni Mubarak's recent health problems, he said, were also catalysing the opposition's heated calls for constitutional and presidential reforms. According to Abdel-Razeq, the only way Egypt could avoid relapsing into "another six- year cycle of political stagnation and economic crises", was for the NDP and the presidency to agree to opposition and civil society demands that the president and vice-president be chosen via competitive, free and direct elections between more than one candidate, and that they not hold their positions for more than two six-year terms. Tagammu Party Chairman Rifaat El-Said said the opposition's joint action was also a clear jibe at the NDP's failed attempt to conduct a national dialogue on political reforms with the opposition. Responding to the charge, NDP Secretary- General Safwat El-Sherif told Mayo, the ruling party's mouthpiece, that the party's invitation to a national dialogue with the opposition was still alive. El-Sherif also hailed the opposition's decision to limit participation in their initial plan of action to legal political forces only. "We want the opposition to understand that we are trying our best to find common ground, taking into consideration the local and foreign challenges facing Egypt in 2005," El-Sherif said. At the NDP's second annual conference, set to take place in late September, amendments of five political laws will be debated, before being passed to the People's Assembly for final approval. El-Said said the ruling party's unilateral approach to reform reflected a monopolistic attitude, and had provided the main impetus for the opposition's decision to unify its front. As opposed to what he called the NDP's hollow reforms, "the opposition's conference was an opportunity to realise a real reform agenda."
