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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 August 2000 Issue No. 495 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 August 2000 Issue No. 495
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters No party poopers
By Shaden Shehab'Fouad Serageddin Pasha has died, but the Wafd party must live' is the current slogan of members of the largest opposition party in the country. And in order to keep the wheels turning, elections to fill the vacant post of party chairman are scheduled for 1 September. Nominations started yesterday and will continue until next Sunday.
Fouad Serageddin, widely known as "the pasha," died on 9 August at the age of 90.
He had not named a successor. "He wanted the decision to be that of the majority and not his," said Ibrahim Dessouki Abaza, the party's assistant secretary-general.
According to party statutes, if the chairman's post becomes vacant, the senior deputy chairman should take over until the 1,000-member general assembly meets sometime within the next 60 days to elect a successor. In the meantime, Noaman Gomaa, the 66-year-old first deputy chairman of the party, is filling the post on an interim basis.
But Gomaa, a prominent lawyer, has the ambition of transforming his status from "acting" to "permanent." He announced his nomination for the post shortly after Serageddin passed away. But it was already common knowledge, even while the pasha was alive, that he wanted to follow in his footsteps. It was also widely known that Yassin Serageddin, the younger brother of the late chairman, has an eye on the post. In fact, the younger Serageddin has nominated himself for the job.
The two leading candidates have little in common. Gomaa is known for his staunch opposition to the government and his strong links with other party members, especially from the younger generations. He is the oldest living figure to hold a leading position in the party since its comeback in 1978. And it was Gomaa whom Fouad Serageddin hand-picked for the position of first deputy chairman.
Gomaa is regarded by many as a man of integrity. His opposition to the government did not stop him from representing Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Youssef Wali in a libel lawsuit the minister brought against Al-Shaab, the suspended mouthpiece of the now "frozen" Labour Party.
For his part, Yassin Serageddin, 79, has the advantage of being one of the party founders as well as bearing a family name long associated with the nationalist struggle. Although he has some following among party members, many remain circumspect, believing that he toed the government line during his many years as a member of parliament. For the same reason, he had disputes with his older brother, who expelled him from the party in 1984. One year later, however, they settled their differences and he became the second deputy chairman.
"In our party, we are democratic and united. One of the candidates will win, and the losers will respect and welcome the general assembly's vote in order for the ship to continue sailing," Yassin Serageddin told Al-Ahram Weekly. "There is no chance of fragmentation because all Wafd members are committed to the unity of the party," he added confidently.
Although bets are on the two deputy chairmen for the leadership position, they are not the only candidates for the post. Other names being bandied about include those of Fouad Badrawi, Fouad Serageddin's grandson, Ibrahim Dessouki Abaza, assistant secretary-general, and Mahmoud El-Sakka, a law professor at Cairo University.
Speaking to the Weekly on Tuesday, Badrawi said: "I have not made up my mind yet whether to nominate myself. If I find that it will do the party good, then this is the decision I will take. I do not want my nomination to cause differences of opinion or struggles within the party, because the greater the number of candidates, the greater the chance that this could happen."
Asked if he wants to nominate himself for the post to keep it within the family, Badrawi said, "The Wafd is not a family party; its roots are much deeper than that. It is a party of past generations and generations to come."
Abaza echoed a similar sentiment. "I will only nominate myself if I find this to be to the benefit of the party. I am still thinking it over. The interests of the Wafd are much more important than personal interests," he said.
Mahmoud El-Sakka was not available for comment but he is known to be Islamist-oriented and was a defence attorney for Islamist militants in the past.
Wahid Abdel-Meguid, an expert at the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, is of the opinion that the party will not be divided over the selection of a new leader. "It will be a smooth transition," he said. "There is actually no real competition; the one real front is that of Gomaa's. The other candidates, even Yassin Serageddin, represent a minor threat to Gomaa."
Yassin Serageddin said that succession developments "will not affect the party's preparations for the November parliamentary elections, although they will distract the party's attention for a brief period until a new chairman is elected."
"The Wafd will retain its position as the largest opposition party and the largest representative of the opposition in parliament," Abdel-Meguid predicted.
Gomaa's decision to set an early date for elections for the post of chairman may be attributed to the fact that nominations for parliamentary elections begin on 13 September.
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