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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 August 2000 Issue No. 494 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 August 2000 Issue No. 494
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Labour in limbo
By Mona El-Nahhas
The Supreme Administrative Court is expected to start proceedings soon to determine the fate of the Islamist-oriented Labour Party. The Political Parties Committee, a government-controlled body in charge of licensing political parties, had decided two weeks ago to refer the party's file to the court, asking for its dissolution and the liquidation of its financial assets.
Meanwhile, and until the judiciary hands down a verdict, the committee decided to freeze the party's activities and ban its publications. The committee's recommendation for the party's dissolution was made after the socialist prosecutor-general levelled against party leaders nine accusations which carry up to 15 years imprisonment.
According to the socialist prosecutor-general, party leaders violated the law governing political parties by joining hands with illegal groups, notably the Muslim Brotherhood, along with extremist elements. The prosecutor's report accused Labour of giving Islamists the opportunity to occupy leading party positions and allowing them to use the party's newspaper to air views that incite sedition, threaten national unity and social peace.
Party leaders were also accused of receiving donations without gaining the approval of the authorities or publishing the names of donors in a daily newspaper as required by law. The report argued that Labour leaders had changed the core of the party's platform from socialism to religion without informing the Political Parties Committee. Moreover, the party did not reveal funding sources in its annual budgets.
Labour leader Ibrahim Shukri contested the legality of the committee's decision before the Supreme Administrative Court. The appeal was based on a previous ruling by the Administrative Court annulling last May's decision by the Political Parties Committee to suspend the publication of the party's mouthpiece, Al-Shaab, and suspend the party's activities. The court said that the Political Parties Committee has no legal authority to suspend parties' activities or interfere in their internal affairs.
By the same token, Shukri views the committee's second decision as also illegal. Shukri claimed that the party was not formally notified of the committee's decision or the socialist prosecutor-general's report.
According to the law governing political parties, the Supreme Administrative Court has one month, from the start of proceedings, to decide whether to dissolve the party or not. The first court session should be held within a week from the notification of the party leader of the committee's decision. Sources with the Shura Council, to which the committee is affiliated, asserted that Shukri was notified of the committee's decision, in spite of his denial.
Analysts believe that these developments reflect the government's intention to dissolve the party ahead of the November parliamentary elections. However, Labour Secretary-General Adel Hussein claimed that the imprisonment of party leaders or dissolution of the party were remote possibilities. "The government's sole aim is to create divisiveness in the party ranks, and we'd never allow this to happen. We are a united front, and we would remain so forever," he said, adding that party members will contest the coming elections as independents.
