 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 2 - 8 December 1999 Issue No. 458 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 2 - 8 December 1999 Issue No. 458
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Special Focus Interview Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Unity and democracy
By Amin Iskandar *
Al-Karama, a new political party, offers a vision for the future, a desire to build on the historic unity of the population, and a determination to further justice, development and unity through democracy. Its objective thus defined, Al-Karama has applied to the Committee on Political Parties for a license. After extensive discussions by its founders agreement was reached on the party's political platform, philosophy and organisation.
The tenets of Al-Karama's political programme reflect a contemporary outlook: the state, the Arab nation, and religion are interconnected but not rigidly interdependent spheres of allegiance; we believe in effective conciliation between the subjectivity of culture and objective reality; the Nasserist experiment failed because of a lack of effective support at the grassroots level and an overdependence on the security apparatus; Islam is opposed to the rule of a priesthood -- we can discriminate between the nation's religion and the state though we cannot separate the two; equality is the quintessence of our constitution; our slogans are total independence, effective Arab nationalism, justice, science, technology and democracy.
The party's executive regulations reflect its organisational philosophy. New concepts must be introduced, democratic practices deeply ingrained, and the party's gressroot supporters must be in control. Coordination and conciliation are the bases of sound management. This innovative model of political action, Al-Karama's founders believe, will allow the masses to benefit from reform.
*This week's Soapbox speaker is a leading figure in the Nasserist movement and a founding member of Al-Karama Party.
