For the first time in 20 years, a coalition of four secular opposition parties was formed to press for greater political reform, writes Gamal Essam El-Din Mahmoud Abaza, the leader of the Wafd Party, last week called for a coalition of the four largest secular opposition parties in order to push for greater political and constitutional reform. The last time the major opposition parties formed a coalition was ahead of the 1984 parliamentary elections. In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Abaza said the coalition would initially include Al-Wafd, the Democratic Front (DFP) led by Yehia El-Gamal, the leftist Tagammu led by Rifaat El-Said, and the Arab Nasserist Party led by Diaaeddin Dawoud. "Later it might expand to include professional syndicates, such as the Journalists' and Lawyers', and organisations such as the Union of Writers." "We are in discussion with the other three main opposition secular parties about the basis of the coalition," said Abaza. They all agree that the coalition must exclude the Muslim Brotherhood. "It will be a grouping of secular parties which believe in keeping religion and politics separate," Abaza continued, saying the Brotherhood's recently- announced manifesto clearly showed "it does not believe in a civilian state, but in a state in which clerics have the final say over legislation and policy." The move is necessary, Abaza argued, to combat the deterioration in the political climate over the last six months. "In recent months, and to the growing dismay of the opposition, constitutional amendments were rammed through the People's Assembly, their only aim being to strengthen the NDP's stranglehold on political life." "We have seen the judicial supervision of elections eliminated, opening the door to blatant vote rigging, which reached scandalous proportions during June's mid-term Shura Council elections from which the NDP emerged claiming it had won 99.9 per cent of the vote." Abaza is also worried about the draconian powers granted the president under amendments to the constitution at the expense of freedom and human rights. "They give the president a licence to refer political opponents to any court, including military courts, while the new anti-terror law currently being drafted will further erode civil rights." Abaza points to the increasingly strained relations between the NDP on the one hand and independent judges and journalists on the other as indicative of Egypt's political malaise. The campaign recently launched by the state- owned press against independently minded judges and journalists was, says Abaza, a tipping point. Such poisoning of the political climate was the last thing any one had expected, Abaza argues, when "in 2005 President Mubarak promised an ambitious programme that would strengthen civil rights and promote greater democratisation". "It is a tragedy that everything Mubarak promised in 2005 has, by 2007, turned into the opposite." Abaza is also opposed to the way in which public assets have been privatised and believes that the rush to denationalise is not in the public interest. "Although the Wafd is a liberal party it believes that privatisation has been mismanaged, even when it comes to strategic assets such as the Banque du Caire," he said. "The Wafd successfully seized on the Banque du Caire issue to crystallise a united stand among different political forces and this was a first step on the way towards coalition becoming a reality." While the coalition is intended as a united front that will allow the opposition to push for political reform it will also, revealed the Wafd's leader, appoint a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution. Last week Wafd delegates met with leaders of the Democratic Front and the Tagammu. "The political scene is currently dominated by two political forces, the NDP and Muslim Brotherhood, and there is a pressing need for a third force, composed of liberal and secular parties. The Egyptian people are fed up with the NDP and the Brotherhood, both of which are undemocratic. There must be a third choice based on liberal secular foundations." DFP leader El-Gamal says he fully supports the Wafd's initiative: "Egypt is in desperate need of a new social contract and a new constitution. The country has undergone major changes in recent years yet the regime thinks only of defending the status quo and ignores the aspirations of the majority of Egyptians. DFP Deputy Chairman Osama El-Ghazali Harb, who is also editor of Al-Ahram's A- Siyasa Al-Dawliya magazine, believes a new constitution could ensure a safe and smooth transfer of power. "One lesson from the recent rumours over Mubarak's health," says Harb, "is that the public is worried about the future and believes that recent amendments were tailored to serve the ruling NDP and ensure it remains in power regardless of what the people think about who should govern them after Mubarak." Established a year ago, the liberal-oriented Democratic Front was hailed as a potential major player on the political scene. In a conference last week the party denounced the imprisonment of four leading independent journalists, attracting the wrath of the state-owned national press and leading some commentators to worry that the party could face the same fate as Al-Ghad whose leader, Ayman Nour, is currently serving a five-year prison sentence. "We know senior NDP leaders feel uncomfortable with our party's line but we are determined that our coalition with the Wafd and other forces should compel the NDP to change its ways," says Harb. In its meetings with the leftist Tagammu, Wafd leaders focussed on economic rather than political issues. Yassin Tageddin, Wafd deputy leader, said "we aimed to reach a united stand with Al-Tagammu on thorny issues such as unemployment, health and education problems, public services and privatisation." A third Wafd delegation will soon meet with leaders of the Arab Nasserist Party.
