 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 31 August - 6 September 2000 Issue No. 497 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
|
||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 31 August - 6 September 2000 Issue No. 497
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
|
||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The Wafd and revolution
I expect that in the coming phase of Wafd history, which begins with the party's elections to nominate a new president, the party's antagonism towards the 1952 Revolution will wane slightly. Although the Wafd has traditionally resented all the Revolution represented -- since its leaders and many of its cadres belonged to the class that was most threatened by the socialist aims of the Revolution -- any harm the party may have suffered is no longer an important aspect of its struggle.
In fact, if we concentrate on the principles of the Revolution, we will soon realise that they are the same, at heart, as those demanded by the Wafd. For example, agricultural reform, among other objectives, was demanded by the youth of the Wafd prior to the Revolution.
The same may be said of the abolition of educational fees, a principle that was implemented by a Wafd government prior to its extension to university education by the Revolutionary regime. And this is not to mention the issue of ending the British occupation, which formed the backbone of the Wafd's political activities since the beginning. So embroiled were the young Wafd activists in these same objectives that, on hearing of the Revolution, I actually thought it was they who perpetrated it.
Every so often, it is necessary to re-xamine ideas we accepted at one point without really thinking about them. In this instance, we should revise the supposed disagreement between the Wafd and the Revolution.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
