CAIRO - The call to issue a graft law, whereby the active members of the dissolved National Democratic Party (NDP) would be excluded from practicing politics for a requisite number of years, was for some time ignored by the ruling Military Council. But the pressure exerted by political forces towards this end, a few weeks before the start of the parliamentary polls, has finally convinced those in power of the need for such a law. It actually stands to reason that in an extraordinary revolutionary moment, which witnessed the ousting of a corrupt regime, extraordinary additional measures have to be taken. It would be absurd to see loyalists of the old regime in the political forefront when young revolutionaries, who had sparked the massive upheaval back in January, are being pushed back to the rear. Given the fact that NDP members were said to number around three million there have to be fixed criteria for the elimination process. There is a tendency to temporary deprive from participation in political life the NDP representatives in the 2005 and 20l0 parliaments, members of their Policies Committee and party secretaries in governorates. The point is that the NDP members have proven time after time since January their relentless struggle by hook or crook to remain in the picture. In reaction to the intended revival of the graft law, which was first issued in the post-l952 revolution period, remnants of the defunct party held a conference in Qena, rallying heads of extended families in Upper Egypt and Sinai tribal chieftains to contest what they allege is unconstitutional. They claim this law would deprive them of their human rights as Egyptian citizens. It would be very maladroit to allow those responsible for political corruption especially in the past ten years, to pull the strings again. We dare say that the revolution has been stumbling along the way and decisiveness seems a virtue at this critical time.
