Two new parties will soon be added to the existing list, reports Sarah Murad Two new parties sharing the same political ideology of Arab nationalism are in the process of being officially registered and joining the Egyptian political scene. Former Nasserist MP is preparing the registration of the new Wehda (Unity) Party, and former health minister Helmi El-Hadidi is said to be seeking a licence for the new Nasr Beladi (Victory for My Country) Party. Bakri's Unity Party is an attempt to bring together secularist political forces seeking stability and change under one umbrella, while at the same time promoting the 25 January Revolution's demands for freedom, justice and dignity. The Unity Party also seeks to counter what it calls the "Brotherhood-isation" of the Egyptian state and the dominance of one political force over the political scene, a common fear among many other political forces. The party would give space to the younger generation and those who participated in the Egyptian revolution, allowing them to be part of the change and to play a role on the political scene. "The political scene is in need of a party that will be able to represent all Egyptians," Bakri said, adding that the Unity Party would have an Arab nationalist ideology aimed at bringing about the unity of the Arabs against US and Zionist hegemony. The Unity Party's founders are willing to come together with other political forces that share their goals, including the rejection of the dominance of the Islamists and the so-called "Islamisation" of the state. Bakri said that such dominance, were it to be successful, would not allow free-and-fair elections to take place, particularly as a result of revisions to the electoral laws. The Unity Party also aimed to broaden its influence beyond Egypt's borders, he said, and it would focus on solving the problems of people in "marginalised" areas, for example in Upper Egypt and parts of the countryside. "People there suffer from social, economic and health problems that are in need of urgent solutions," he said, adding that the party would seek effective solutions to the problem of unemployment. "The state should provide monthly allowances for the unemployed until they find jobs," he said. The Unity Party also intended to fight political and economic corruption in all its forms, in addition to seeking the reform of public companies, state-owned factories, and greater emphasis on workers' rights, he added. The party's founders intend to meet Amr Moussa, the former Arab League secretary-general and former presidential elections candidate, in order to discuss his initiative to merge the country's various liberal political forces in one coalition ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections. Bakri said that his party had already collected about 5,500 signatures from various governorates as a preparatory step to registering the new party. "We will work in the coming period on submitting our programme to the Political Parties Committee after discussing it with party members," Bakri said. "We need to affirm our Egyptian, Arab and Muslim identity and to confirm that Egypt will be for all Egyptians." El-Hadidi's Victory for my Country Party was approved last week by the Political Parties Committee, and it also aims at maintaining Egypt's identity as a civil state. Like Bakri's Unity Party, it has an Arab nationalist ideology. According to El-Hadidi, the party's most important goal is to achieve social justice in Egypt. "That is what the party's programme aims at," he said, giving the examples of free education as well as greater efforts to eliminate illiteracy. Health insurance and treatment should be free, he said. There should be minimum and maximum wages, and the party wanted to see work to improve the country's tourism facilities and the skills of those who work in the tourism sector. The party would be presenting candidates in the forthcoming parliamentary polls, El-Hadidi said, though observers say that their success may be limited given the party's limited public profile.
