Al-Ahram Weekly 30 Sep. - 6 Oct. 1999 Issue No. 449
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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Opposition discord and half-hearted concord

By Amira Howeidy

Consistent with their divergent positions during parliament's nomination of President Mubarak, most opposition parties voted "yes", one voted "no" and a third abstained in this week's presidential referendum. Possibly the only surprise was that provided by the Islamist-oriented Labour Party, which had "postponed" its decision on the president's reelection. Despite its usually fiery anti-government rhetoric, the party's leader, Ibrahim Shukri, was at the poll saying "yes" to Mubarak.

Though going their divergent ways on the presidential vote, the opposition parties, however, had achieved a consensus on seizing the opportunity that vote provided to launch a "vigourous" campaign for democratisation and political reform during Mubarak's fourth term. But even before balloting day the campaign appeared to be running out of steam.

On 22 September, the leftist Tagammu Party hosted what was supposed to be a significant political event -- the First Conference for Political and Constitutional Reform. But attendance at the party's main hall was conspicuously low. Those who made it to the rally were mainly Tagammu members and supporters, reporters and a small number of intellectuals and political activists.

The event was preceded by a campaign for reform launched by several human rights groups, political figures and opposition parties that eventually formed what they called the Preparatory Committee for the Political and Constitutional Reform Conference.

Last month, the committee issued a statement that set five basic demands in order to "free political activity from the constraints imposed on it." These were: lifting the state of emergency; providing safeguards for free elections; allowing the unrestricted formation of political parties; allowing the establishment and ownership of newspapers and media channels; and guaranteeing the independence of syndicates and civil society.

Although put forward as the committee's collective effort, the statement sent to the president before its official release carried only the signatures of the leaders of the Wafd, Nasserist, Labour and Tagammu parties. At a news conference held a week later, the committee's members stressed that the statement was not issued by these political parties only and that it represented the demands of "civil society" as a whole.

Although the Muslim Brotherhood signed the statement, the outlawed group did not send a representative to the news conference. However, the significance of its absence was downplayed by the Preparatory Committee which hailed its work as the "first time that Egypt's political parties and forces had agreed on anything."

But this sentiment was not a survivor. In a history marred by lack of coordination and consensus, opposition parties continue to content themselves with issuing statements.

The Conference for Political and Constitutional Reform on 22 September, their first step to drum up grass-roots support, was not attended by any political party leader apart from Tagammu's Khaled Mohieddin. The Nasserist, Labour and Wafd parties sent only representatives; some independent political figures were also present.

The Muslim Brotherhood boycotted the rally. "The timing was not right because it coincided with the presidential referendum," Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mustafa Mashhour told Al-Ahram Weekly. "We wanted to postpone the rally, but the committee refused so we boycotted it."

Diaeddin Dawoud, head of the Nasserist Party, said he cast a "no" vote in the referendum. "Our party's position was very clear and we issued a statement explaining why we are against the referendum, but this is nothing personal," he explained.

The Nasserist Party was the only political group to declare clear opposition to the referendum, a month ago. But, although Dawoud was among those who signed the statement demanding political and constitutional reform, he expressed disinterest in Tagammu's rally. "There is no point in organising such events," he told the Weekly. "The president is going to win anyway. A rally confined to four walls is useless. The only thing we could do was to join other political forces in their call for political and constitutional reform."

A frustrated opposition? "No," snapped Dawoud, "each battle has its weapons. We are aware that we are the only party that opposed the referendum, and we said so, while the other political parties supported it. So there is no real opposition, but what else can we do?"

Tagammu, which abstained in the parliamentary nomination, maintained the same position in Sunday's poll. The party's secretary general, Rifaat El-Said, said that he invited party members and supporters to exercise their constitutional right and head to the polling stations. "But," he stressed, "they went there to declare their abstention." He saw no contradiction between voting and opposing the referendum at the same time. "We are against the article in the constitution dealing with the procedures for electing the president; we don't think it's a very democratic process. But I can say 'yes' to Mubarak and still believe that Egypt would have a better future if we had real elections instead of a referendum," he told the Weekly. El-Said said he did not vote.

Both Ibrahim Shukri, leader of the Islamist-oriented Labour Party, and Yassin Serageddin, deputy chairman of the liberal Wafd Party, said they cast "yes" votes.

Shukri said that he took this decision because "it is important for the president to feel that he has the support of all Egyptians following the [attempt on his life] in Port Said [earlier this month]." He said that he esteemed Mubarak's achievements. "But this does not mean that we are not entitled to call for guarantees for free [parliamentary] elections," he explained, adding that he hoped the president would release Magdi Hussein, editor of Labour's mouthpiece, Al-Shaab, who is imprisoned for libel.

"It is no secret that opposition parties are closer to the government regime than they've ever been before," said Hashem Fouad, a journalist with the Nasserist mouthpiece Al-Arabi. This, he argued, was one of the reasons why he and others, such as leading Marxist lawyer Ahmed Nabil El-Helali and poet Ahmed Fouad Negm, formed what they called the Democratic and Socialist Committee against the Nomination of Mubarak. The committee was joined by 120 public figures and intellectuals representing various political trends.

Leading Tagammu figure Hussein Abdel-Razek, who was active in the political and constitutional reform initiative, had anticipated the apathetic response. "Political activity is lifeless; so I wasn't surprised that certain political parties didn't make their presence felt in the 22 September rally. But those of us who did, triggered some action in an already stagnant political scene."

The coordination committee of political parties and forces will meet after the widely anticipated cabinet reshuffle to decide their next move. And, according to Abdel-Razek, the Preparatory Committee will hold another public rally in January "and perhaps move to areas outside Cairo to elaborate on the need for political and constitutional reform."

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