New parties are rallying their forces to confront the Muslim Brotherhood in the upcoming parliamentary elections, but many differences remain, reports Khaled Dawoud The long queues of people who waited patiently to go through the security check at the entrance of the five-star hotel in midtown Cairo did not indicate that this was a crowd gathered for a political cause, but rather perhaps to attend a concert by a hit pop star. Yet, this was, as the organisers announced, the first debate of its kind between four political parties that define themselves as "liberal". The organisers were a group of newly-formed non- government organisations, such as Positive Movement and Enlightened Egypt, who emerged after the 25 January Revolution to raise political awareness and encourage participation. Only one of the four parties, the Democratic Front led by Osama Harb, had been in existence before the ousting of former president Hosni Mubarak on 11 February. The Front, or Al-Gabha in Arabic, was never able to win wide support before the revolution, though it took a firm stand against plans by Mubarak to hand over power to his son and the rigging of the last parliamentary elections in November. Harb himself started his political career as a member of Mubarak's former ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), but later joined the opposition, citing a lack of political reform. The remaining three parties that debated on Saturday are in the process of meeting conditions to qualify as legitimate parties according to the new parties law announced in April by the Higher Council of the Armed Forces (HCAF). They include the Free Egyptians, headed by business tycoon Naguib Sawiris, who strongly supported the 25 January Revolution, the Adl or Justice Party headed by Mustafa El-Naggar, who has a Muslim Brotherhood background, and the Egyptian Democratic Social Party (EDSP) headed by Mohamed Abul-Ghar, a prominent activist in the Kifaya (Enough) movement whose Party presents a more liberal-leftist platform. Clearly absent was the Wafd Party, which was seen as the traditional liberal party under Mubarak's regime. The new generation of activists who emerged after the revolution seems more interested in new political parties that have no links with the past three decades. After the security check at the hotel's entrance, there was another long queue for three elevators. As more and more people showed up, the hotel staff decided to stop the elevators, telling people there was no more space in the hall that is usually used for weddings and has a capacity of 1,000 guests. Still, the crowds were not deterred, and dozens decided to walk up the stairs instead, going up 13 floors and including a few men and women over 70. Many were in for another surprise after finally making it to the hall: all guests had to pay LE25 each, equal to what upper-middle and upper-class Egyptians might pay for a cinema ticket in a five-star mall. "This is not the usual political crowd," said Ismail Attia, a retired government employee who stood patiently to attend the debate. "These people are members of the Sawiris crowd," he added, pointing to the majority of unveiled young women in full make-up and expensive clothes. Although Sawiris is known as a liberal, the fact that he is also a Coptic Christian has led many Egyptians to dub his party the "Christians' Party," a charge which he vehemently denies, announcing that he does not intend to stand as president of the party and would prefer a Muslim to be its leader. However, Sawiris also fuelled the debate surrounding the party when he said in earlier statements that his goal was to compete with the Muslim Brotherhood. "The Muslim Brothers have the majority among the activists," Sawiris told the crowd in his opening remarks at the debate. "But we have the silent majority. We have to move that silent majority, known as the 'sofa party'," he added. The 1,000 or so people sitting on the floor and filling every empty space in the hall cheered when Sawiris announced that he expected to announce "an alliance or coalition among the four parties running on a liberal platform." He noted that there were "few differences among us, if any". "Perhaps what differentiates the Free Egyptians is the fact that the party is headed by a businessman. So we will definitely be more in favour of a capitalist economy," he said. Many of those who attended the debate would have noticed that the Justice Party, led by El-Naggar, was less "liberal" when compared to the three other parties. Besides his background as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, El-Naggar has also coordinated the presidential campaign of Mohamed El-Baradei, former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Observers have been surprised by El-Naggar's ability quickly to garner support for his party and to launch an expensive newspaper campaign asking people to join, implying that he might be receiving support from members of Mubarak's now-dissolved NDP. "We already have 6,500 proxies to present to the Parties Committee," El-Naggar said, referring to the new law that requires a minimum of 5,000 official proxies in 10 governorates to form a political party. "We don't want to declare adherence to a certain ideology, but instead to practical programmes in all social, economic and political fields." Sawiris told the crowd he had no problem with the rival party's threshold, announcing that he already had over "7,000 proxies." The EDSP representative, Abul-Ghar, said that his party was close to that, but not there yet with only 3,400 proxies. "We want to make sure that each proxy we get is genuine from people who are ready to work to promote the party's programme based on democracy, social justice and building a modern Egypt where all citizens are equal regardless of religion or gender," he said. There were a few moments of tension during the debate, the most noticeable of which occurred when EDSP member Sally Toma questioned El-Naggar's "liberal credentials and loyalty to the revolution" and claimed that he had called upon the protesters in Tahrir Square to leave on 3 February before Mubarak's departure and to accept dialogue with former General Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. El-Naggar was clearly annoyed and denied the charge, as well as other charges that his Adl Party included former NDP members. "These are all false allegations," El-Naggar told the crowd in which he had a few supporters. Attendees were also divided over the question of "coordinating" with the Muslim Brotherhood in the upcoming parliamentary elections in September. While Sawiris and Abul-Ghar were clear about stating that this would be difficult for them to do, given that theirs were secular parties and the Brotherhood was religious, Harb and El-Naggar were more open about the possibility. The representatives of the Free Egyptians were also different from the other parties present, since they requested an amendment to Article 2 of the constitution, which states that the "principles of Islamic Sharia are the main source of legislation." Mustafa Haridi, a leading party member, said the party did not want to abolish this controversial article, but that it wanted to add a sentence to confirm "respect for the rights of other minorities", particularly regarding personal affairs, a clear reference to Egypt's Christians. A similar split occurred over the question of including members of the former ruling NDP in party ranks, with Harb and El-Naggar being more open than others to this idea. Most ironic, however, was the fact that the deepest differences of the evening seemed to be those between Harb and his deputy in the Democratic Front Party, Al-Ahram columnist Sekina Fouad. Harb, a skilled politician who has been around for decades, said that election needs might push his party to coordinate with former NDP members "in regions where tribal and family loyalties are more important than political ideology". However, Fouad totally rejected coordination with the NDP, saying that "there can't be any coordination with a party that destroyed our lives and suppressed us for 30 years." Asked whether the Democratic Front would have supported Mustafa El-Feki, a former NDP member and presidential adviser, for the post of secretary-general of the Arab League, Harb said that he would have, while Sakina disagreed. El-Feki's nomination to the post had already led to controversy because of his links to the Mubarak regime and opposition from some Arab countries. As a result, Egypt's military leadership decided to bow to public pressure and announced that it had withdrawn El-Feki's nomination. On 15 May, Foreign Minister Nabil El-Arabi was assigned the secretariat-general of the Arab League. Nevertheless, one key point the four parties agreed on was the need to postpone the upcoming parliamentary elections in order to give them more time to organise and compete with the Muslim Brotherhood. The latter is known for its high degree of organisation and ability to turn voters out during elections. This stand is likely to deepen the split between the liberals and the Brotherhood, however, which issued a statement one day after the debate saying that postponing the elections would be "improper because it violates the decision the Egyptian people took in the public referendum" held on 19 March. In that referendum, 77.2 per cent of Egyptians voted for the schedule set for the political process by the Armed Forces in limited amendments to the articles of the constitution. According to this schedule, parliamentary elections are to be held in September, followed by presidential elections before the end of the year.
