With its first annual conference less than a month away, the ruling NDP is facing an unprecedented attack on both political and economic grounds. Gamal Essam El-Din reports Opposition parties have been harping on the National Democratic Party's (NDP) problems for some time now. This month, they stepped up their campaign against the ruling party, in anticipation of the NDP's first annual conference, which is set to take place from 27-28 September. The opposition has been taking aim at two main targets: that the ruling party has flooded the People's Assembly with MPs who are not qualified enough to create a vibrant and effective parliament; and that the NDP is maintaining a government marked by a terribly lacklustre performance. A 17 August ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court has only added salt to the wound. The court ordered that MPs who have not done their military service, or have no legal reason for exemption from it, must have their parliamentary membership revoked. Since most -- if not all -- of the MPs who will be affected by this order belong to the NDP, the party's leading members have been actively engaged in damage control. According to Mohamed Moussa, chairman of parliament's legislative and constitutional committee, there are "only" 20 MPs (around five per cent of the entire parliament) who will be directly affected by the ruling. Moussa's calculation fell far short of predictions that up to 50 MPs would be involved. "We will not investigate MPs as long as no election appeals were filed against them on grounds of failing to perform military service," Moussa said. The 20 MPs who will be investigated have had just such appeals filed against them in court. Out of those, "eight were found by the Court of Cassation to have not completed their military service, while the remaining 12 are still being scrutinised by the same court," Moussa said. He also indicated that the eight MPs will be given a two-month period to disprove the court. When parliament reconvenes for a procedural session during the second week of November, Moussa said, a report will be submitted for debate. Moussa told Al-Ahram Weekly that the ruling also bars the affected MPs from running in any future elections. "Although the Assembly has the right to amend the law to give the affected MPs a licence to run in future elections, it would never do something that harbours such a lack of respect for the Constitutional Court," he said. According to Parliamentary Speaker Fathi Sorour, the ruling also applies to the Shura Council, parliament's consultative upper house. Constitutional experts agree that it even applies to elected members of municipal councils. "The ruling applies to everyone who runs in general elections, whether for the People's Assembly, the Shura Council or municipal councils," said Abdel-Reheim Nafie, chairman of Shura Council's constitutional committee. In this respect, the verdict is as historical, and far-reaching, as the one that stipulated that all general elections be placed under full judicial supervision. Nafie said only one Shura Council member was being investigated for not doing his military service. NDP insiders, meanwhile, told the Weekly that high-level meetings are currently being held in an attempt to ensure that the ruling's implementation does not cause major internal disruptions at the party. Sources also said the NDP was doing its utmost to ensure that the by-elections that would be held to replace the affected MPs would again be won by NDP candidates. Prominent opposition figures said the ruling provided further evidence of the undemocratic manner by which the NDP has managed to retain its upper hand in the nation's political life for so long. They recalled that the Constitutional Court had previously ordered that parliaments formed in 1984, 1987 and 1990 be dissolved after it had found that the NDP- drafted laws on which these parliaments were elected were unconstitutional. Hussein Abdel-Razeq, chairman of the leftist Tagammu Party's political committee, told the Weekly that the ruling provides further proof that the NDP is rife with opportunists. "People join the ruling party not to enrich political life, but to secure personal privileges and interests. These people are keen on resorting to all kinds of illegal means -- such as evading military service or buying votes -- in order to become members of parliament under the cloak of the ruling party," Abdel-Razek said. According to Noman Gomaa, chairman of the Wafd Party, the ruling demands that parliament be dissolved, the constitution amended and a "national salvation government" formed. "We want a complete separation between the NDP and the government to ensure that any democratic reform will be effective," Gomaa said. Opposition parties -- in an attempt to further embarrass the NDP -- also said the court ruling must apply to Sorour and Moussa. Sorour defended himself by saying that in 1955, when he and others born in 1932 were scheduled for conscription, the army decided it didn't need additional recruits, and gave him an exemption certificate instead. Sorour provided the press with the exemption certificate itself, which duly appeared in several papers. Moussa, meanwhile, said that laws prior to the 1952 revolution exempted the sons of village mayors from doing military service. "I was the son of a village mayor and this is why I was exempted," he said. Kamal El-Shazli, NDP assistant secretary-general and minister of state for parliamentary affairs, described the ruling as proof that the NDP was keen on ridding political life of unconstitutional defects. El-Shazli argued that President Hosni Mubarak, the party's chairman, has always advocated that political reform take place in a gradual manner. "So far," he said, "this has involved respecting the rulings of the Constitutional Court, ridding the nation of a panoply of infamous laws, and placing elections under full judicial supervision." The opposition, meanwhile, has also taken the NDP to task for the allegedly poor performance of Prime Minister Atef Ebeid's government. Leading figures of all political stripes claim that Ebeid's economic policies have driven the economy aground and the majority of Egyptians under the poverty line. They also argue that Ebeid's attempts to solve the budget deficit, boost exports, promote foreign investments, improve public services and find jobs for millions of new graduates have been appallingly poor. As the NDP's annual conference approaches, it seems clear that the accusations will only get fiercer.
