The countdown now hits days rather than weeks to the upcoming Egyptian parliamentary elections that will mark the last step of the country's protracted road map. Nevertheless, most of renowned political parties seem not ready to run for the electoral process, raising controversy about the future of the political life in Egypt. Following the Jan. 25 revolution, it was clear that Egypt lacked a powerful political party that could obtain the majority of parliament seats, paving the way to form its own government. This statue gave the chance for Islamist movements, including the now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, to appear on the scene as the only political power that can rule the country. Those problems gathered different parties from different directions starting from the far left, such as Tagammou and Nazareth parties to the far right, such as Constitution and Conference parties. Al-Wafd No sooner had Egyptian political parties settled the crisis of election laws than they burst into internal power struggles and ideological differences that could seriously affect their performance in the coming polls. Al-Wafd, Egypt's oldest party, has witnessed during the last few months a severe internal conflict that threatens to divide the party into three warring factions. The rift began in May when an at least 1,200 members of the right-of-center party met in the Nile Delta governorate of Sharqiya, announcing that they were withdrawing their confidence from party chairman Al-Sayed Al-Badawi. They also took a new bureau, near Al-Wafd party headquarter in Giza's Dokki. It took Al-Badawi only 24 hours to respond, as he accused the rivals of doing their best to explode the party from inside, only for personal interests. He immediately suspended the membership of eight prominent members of the party's high board, who participated in the protest movement. In return, the eight members and their supporters led by Fouad Badrawi, the grandson of Al-Wafd's former iconic chairman Fouad Serag Eddin, called themselves Al-Wafd's Reform Front, affirming that they will not rest until their demands are met. President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi intervened to mediate between the two rival factions, launching an initiative of four suggestions to resolve the conflict. Al-Sisi's suggestions included restoring all those high board members sacked by El-Badawi and the former party's high board to resume its work for only a year. The initiative also stipulated that Al-Badawy will form a committee led by the current party's general-secretary with the membership of some "reformers" to select members of the party's general assembly by election; at present they are appointed by the leader. According to Abdel Aziz Al-Nahas, the party's former secretary-general and one of the eight who had their membership suspended, Al-Badawi has removed 800 members from the general assembly, and appointed 1,200 new members, most of them are former members of Mubarak's dissolved National Democratic Party. Another demand is to amend the internal regulations of the party. Al-Nahas said that Al-Badawi had not abide to Al-Sisi's initiative, accusing him of squandering the party's liberal heritage and worsening its financial woes, on a phone call to CBC satellite channel. Al-Nahas stated that Al-Badawi acts like a dictator who makes unilateral decisions without considering the party's democratic principles and that the party, under his leadership, faces a severe financial crisis for the first time since it was established in 1918. Al-Wafd's crisis escalated when another group of opposition in the party announced recently that it prepares for the establishment of a new current separate from the party, under the title of the "Third Current of Al-Wafd," according to a statement they issued. This new group called for immediate reforms to Al-Wafd's regulations before participating in any electoral alliances or nominating the party's members who will run the coming parliamentary elections. Since Al-Sisi affirmed would not endorse any specific political groups, rather he may support a national unified alliance. Al-Wafd Party, under Al-Badawi, was the first party to rush to form an alliance, under the title of "Egyptian Al-Wafd Coalition". Nonetheless, El-Badawi failed and soon his allies abandoned the Al-Wafd coalition. They, instead, took more interest in another coalition, currently acquired by Sameh Seif Al-Yazal, Chairman of the Al-Gomhouria Center for Political and Security Studies. On the other hand, the dissidents that include significant Wafdists such as Badrawi and Al-Nahas announced they will separately run the coming parliamentary elections within an electoral alliance, asserting that they are the real representatives of Al-Wafd. It seems clear that Egypt's long-waited polls will keep unveiling the hidden conflicts within the country's parties, threatening even those old ones of a mysterious future, rather than a forward step on the road of development and instability.
