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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 - 31 May 2000 Issue No. 483 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 - 31 May 2000 Issue No. 483
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Labour in limbo
By Gamal Essam El-DinThe Political Parties Committee decided to suspend the publishing of Labour Party mouthpiece, Al-Shaab, and placed a practical freeze on Labour political activities until the ultimate fate of the party is decided. The committee is a governmental body that licenses parties and oversees their activities. It is headed by Speaker of the Shura Council Mustafa Kamal Helmi, and includes Justice Minister Farouk Seif El-Nasr, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Kamal El-Shazli, Interior Minister Habib El-Adli, former Chairman of the Administrative Prosecution Rifaat Abdel-Meneim, former Chairman of the Cairo Court of Appeals Mohamed Kamal Hamdi, and Deputy Chairman of the State Council Youssef Shalabi.
The members felt it was finally time to intervene after all dialogue between competing leadership factions broke down. The party rupture became blatantly obvious after Hamdi Ahmed and Ahmed Idris, each organised separate general congresses. This disintegration within the party's organisational integrity resulted in a necessary review of its institutional viability. Following a debate that dragged on for more than two hours, the fragmented Labour leadership failed to convince the committee that it was still a viable participant in the political process. Instead of recognising one of the factions, the committee decided it would "not acknowledge any of the claims made by those contesting the Labour Party leadership -- Ibrahim Shukri, Hamdi Ahmed and Ahmed Idris -- until they settle their dispute either by conciliation or litigation." In the meantime, the committee put into effect "all the resulting consequences, such as the suspension of the publication of Al-Shaab and any other party publications during the period of dispute." The committee referred documents containing various legal accusations against top party officials to the prosecutor-general for consideration under Article 17 of the Political Parties Law. This provision empowers the committee to freeze party activities and suspend the publication of party newspapers if they pose a threat to national unity and social peace.
The committee's decision was almost a foregone conclusion in view of the political drama Labour set off last week. The party was blamed for inciting the violent student demonstrations at Al-Azhar University against the Haydar novel. Simultaneous with its campaign against the republication of this allegedly blasphemous novel, political infighting within Labour rent the party asunder. The crisis within Labour and the social turmoil caused by its incendiary political rhetoric forced the committee to take action. But on Tuesday 16 May, rather than ban the party, the committee decided to consider two requests by factions within Labour to establish splinter parties. Ahmed Hadia, a former party secretary-general submitted a petition to establish the Republican Party and Nagui El-Shehabi submitted another application for the Democratic Generation Party. Verdicts have yet to be reached.
The turmoil swirling about the Labour Party spilled over into the ruling National Democratic Party. Al-Azhar President Ahmed Omar Hashim decided in his capacity as chairman of the Parliament Religious Committee, to issue a written statement strongly condemning the Haydar novel. The harshly worded statement said the novel "deserves to be burned in order not to be a factor of corruption in society." Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour, addressing a workshop on parliamentary reporting, expressed his annoyance at Hashim's statement. Sorour said that he had explicitly turned down a request by Hashim to address the assembly. "I was shocked when I was later informed that [Hashim] had taken advantage of his position as the Religious Committee Chairman to issue a statement, without either notifying me or informing the committee members."
However, due to a vitriolic attack against Hashim in Akhbar Al-Yom, Al-Azhar president rushed to Speaker Sorour again to seek permission to deliver an urgent statement. This time, Sorour granted permission on the condition that the statement be brief and would not include attacks on the press. To his dismay, Hashim proceeded to ignore these conditions and lashed out at the press. This angered not only Speaker Sorour but also the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Kamal El-Shazli. The minister of state said, "I had told Hashim not to raise this subject in the People's Assembly."
To many observers, this parliamentary confrontation appeared to be a reflection of a split in the ranks of the ruling National Democratic Party. However, majority leader Ahmed Abu Zeid told Al-Ahram Weekly that the confrontation between Hashim and El-Shazli did not mean that the NDP was torn by internal disputes. On the contrary, "it provides proof of democracy in party ranks. Every member is free to express his viewpoint in a democratic way but, in the end, all should stick by the party's rules," said Abu Zeid
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