Is the pact between the Wafd and the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party over? No one seems to know, writes Mona El-Nahhas Late last week it was widely reported that the Wafd Party had decided to end its electoral coalition with the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood. The decision was said to have been made following a secret meeting between the two parties held last Thursday during which the participants clashed over the number of parliamentary candidates each party should field. News that the Wafd's higher committee had voted to abandon the election pact was greeted enthusiastically by many members. Those who had frozen their membership to protest an alliance that they said was costing the Wafd its credibility announced that they would reconsider their decision. The end of the alliance was also hailed by commentators who had never been able to understand what common ground could exist between an Islamist party and one that insisted on its commitment to a civil state. Whatever political gains either party hoped to make from the alliance, analyst argued, they could not justify brushing such fundamental differences under the carpet. Wafdists' joy over the decision to end the coalition did not last long. Within two days Wafd chairman El-Sayed El-Badawi and Freedom and Justice Chairman Mohamed Mursi issued a joint statement saying that the coalition will continue even after the election. "Our alliance is political," El-Badawi was quoted as saying, "and has already had a positive impact on decision making in Egypt." The coalition led by the Wafd and Freedom and Justice parties, and which was formed to prepare for the coming parliamentary poll, also includes a large number of small and untested political parties. On Tuesday representatives from all the member groups met at the headquarters of the Freedom and Justice Party to discuss coordination ahead of the elections. Participants were expected to present initial estimates of the number of candidates they expected to field. According to Wahid Abdel-Meguid, head of the coalition's electoral coordination committee, attempts to persuade the Wafd to lower its quota of candidates are ongoing. The Wafd is said to have presented a list of 300 candidates. The Freedom and Justice Party is thought to want to field 200 nominees, leaving no seats available for other coalition members. A suggestion that the coalition run separate electoral lists, one led by the Wafd Party and the other by the Freedom and Justice party, was immediately quashed by other coalition members. Essam Sheha, a leading member of the Wafd's higher committee, told Al-Ahram Weekly that he had spoken with other committee members on Monday and they remained opposed to any coalition with the Muslim Brotherhood. "The issue of coordinating with other liberal parties remains an option," Sheha said. So where does this leave the Wafd? Political analyst Amr Hashim Rabei believes that the conflict in the party will persist until parliamentary elections are over. El-Badawi might be torn between his own electoral calculations and the objections being voiced by party members, says Rabei, but in the end "he will not sacrifice his share of the cake". If the coalition wins a majority of parliamentary seats it will form the next government. Rabie argues that, having concluded the Brotherhood can easily secure a majority, El-Badawi will refuse to leave the coalition and thus abandon any hope of cabinet seats.
