CAIRO: Applications of 13 new political parties will be presented Jan. 6 at Cairo's Supreme Administrative Court after being rejected by the political parties committee. In Egypt no party can be legally established without the approval of the political parties committee of the Shoura Council - the upper house of parliament. According to Nabil Abdel Fatah, political analyst at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, the committee will always "rule in favor of the government and the ruling elite to guarantee their continual presence in power. Osama Ghazaly Harb, ex-member of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), and founding member of the nascent Democratic Front Party, had his party license application rejected, although the seasoned politician s platform was neither based on religion, race nor gender, the three restrictions that stand as an obstacle to establishing official parties. This decision was not a surprise. It is an illustration of the political system in Egypt, which insists on having a censorship authority like the political parties committee, Abdel Fatah said. The committee, says Abdel Fatah, bases its decisions on the criminal and political record of a party's founders after negotiations with security and governmental institutions and some members of the NDP and key persons in the system. Abdel Fatah added: The criteria by which the committee issues its decisions depend mainly on personal interest and its ideology of monopoly and political authoritarian culture. So they tend to reject party projects regardless of change they make to their programs. After the rejection by the political parties committee, applications usually go to the Supreme Administrative Court. The committee benefits from the long time courts spend deliberating before a final decision is made as they investigate the founders and members the applicants, test their intentions and try to negotiate with them, Abdel Fatah said. The very presence of such a committee, says Abdel Fatah presents the totalitarian regime in Egypt and its unwillingness to undergo true structural political reform. All attempts at constitutional and other reform have proved by experience that they create more complications and do not present real solutions to the diseases the political system in Egypt suffers from, Abdel Fatah said. The Daily Star Egypt contacted the political parties committee for comment. When confronted with questions, a spokesperson asked the newspaper to send a letter to the head of the committee to which it will respond in a few days.
