As a leading member aims to introduce a quiet sort of opposition to the Tagammu Party's attitude, some party members cry foul. Mona El-Nahhas examines the prospects Members of the leftist Tagammu Party are gathering today at party headquarters to discuss a number of new amendments that are slotted for inclusion into the group's governing statutes. Today's conference is a lead up to the fifth general congress -- scheduled for July -- when elections will be held for the party's chairman and other leading posts. After party chairman Khaled Mohieddin's speech on the current political situation, conference participants will discuss the 27 amendments that have been proposed by party members, with the aim of re-adjusting the party's organisational structure. According to Article 8 -- one of the most controversial of the statutes to be discussed -- party members can not occupy a leading post for more than two successive sessions -- eight years. The article was first amended to the statutes during the party's July 1995 third general congress. If the article remains in force, Mohieddin, as well as party Secretary-General Rifa'at El-Said and other leading members who have held their posts for the eight years since the article came into being -- will now have to step down. They can, however, nominate themselves for any post other than the one were just occupying. Several party members told Al-Ahram Weekly that, for health reasons, Mohieddin does not intend to nominate himself for a new four-year term, even if the article is amended. The greatest likelihood, in that case, would be for Mohieddin to support the article's implementation, paving the way for Said -- the strongest candidate -- to succeed him. Said said he was "in favour of implementing the article in order to prove to everyone that our party is democratic, thus setting an example for all political institutions that rotation of power is possible". While Said's supporters, who include political bureau member Hussein Abdel-Razeq, will "certainly vote for implementing the article", a large bloc of party members will be appealing to Mohieddin to remain in power, warning that his retirement would represent a big loss for the party. A leading party member told the Weekly on condition of anonymity that "in fact, those members, led by Tagammu MP El-Badri Farghali, do not want Said to replace Mohieddin. For that reason, they will vote to abolish the article." This was despite what the source described as the "nearly identical" nature of both Mohieddin and Said's leanings, who the source also said are on good terms with each other. "There are no differences between them. The problem is between Said and some party members who disapprove of his internal party politics," he said. In fact, the Tagammu Party has lately been divided along two lines -- those in support of Said, and those who think his attempts to harmonise with the government has negatively affected the party's popularity and weakened its performance in general. They say Said has shifted the party's stance from its far left leanings to somewhere within the borders of what they call the 'governmental' left. According to Abdel-Ghaffar Shukr, who resigned from his post as deputy secretary-general two years ago in protest of Said's pro- governmental leanings, "the party, basically formed to defend workers, farmers and the lower social classes, has isolated itself from them. It was only natural, then, that party membership went down from 240,000 in 1976 to 30,000 in 2002." Shukr's resignation was turned down by the party's central committee, its highest supervisory body. Shukr, however, was not the only member who submitted a resignation. Several leading members did the same, while others decided to freeze their membership until all problematic issues are settled. Recently, Shukr has been busy preparing a report with suggestions on re-structuring the party and improving its performance. Set to be signed by central committee members and submitted to the fifth general congress, Shukr's report calls for a return to the party's original leftist line, as well as a bridging of the gap between the party's line and that of other leftist groups. According to Shukr, any partnership the party decides to pursue with another political party must be announced to all party members. Hinting at a secret deal Said is said to have arranged with the government, Shukr said, "it's not proper to make deals in the dark. This deal's goal is to confront political Islamist groups, in return for which Said will be promoted to the party's leading post." Said denied this, describing talk of deals with the government as "mere lies". He said that "all that happened is that the party adopted a kind of quiet oppositional role. That's it." Said supporter Abdel- Razeq also denied the existence of any internal splits within the party, describing the differences as "just normal differences in points of view".
