CAIRO: The political parties committee at the Shoura Council officially approved the founding of the Democratic Front Party yesterday. Osama El Ghazali Harb, the appointed member of the Shoura Council and the chief editor of the International Politics magazine and Yehia El Gamal, law professor at Cairo University and former minister, had filed a request to the committee to establish the part last February. Harb had originally thought of founding the ideologically liberal party after his resignation from the National Democratic Party (NDP), in which he served as a member of the Political Committee. Harb resigned in objection to the amending of the Article 76 which regulates presidential elections arguably to the best interest of NDP. About five months later, during the November 2005 parliamentary elections, Harb expressed a wish to establish a liberal political party that would have an active role on the political scene. The 2005 parliamentary elections revealed the weakness of current political parties. The strong participation of the Muslim Brotherhood, which landed 88 seats in the elections, contrasted with the other established parties that were mainly a no-show. Harb's idea attracted a number of the prominent figures on the local political scene who believe in liberalism. Among them are El Gamal, Aly El Selmy, fomer minister and independent Member of Parliament Mohamed Anwar El Sadat. The Shoura Council has also decided to extend Harb's post as the editor of the state-run International Politics magazine for one more year.
