Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 12 - 18 October 2000 Issue No. 503
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

	Egypt Elections Palestine International Economy Opinion Culture Books Interview Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters

'All we can offer is moral backing'

By Mona El-Nahhas

Diaeddin Dawoud

Diaeddin Dawoud, leader of the Arab Dem-cratic Nasserist Party, began a legal practice after graduating from Cairo University's Fa-ulty of Law in 1949. He was elected to the People's Assembly in 1964 and, four years lat-r, was appointed minister of social affairs in a cabinet headed by President Gamal Abdel-Nasser.

He held the post for only seven months. In October 1968, he became a member of the Higher Executive Committee, or collective leadership, of the Arab Socialist Union, the sole political party at the time. He was re-elected to the People's Assembly in 1969 and, a year later, became a member of the ASU general-secretariat.
After the late President Anwar El-Sadat's rise to power, Dawoud was arrested along with a group of Nasser's top aides, put on trial on charges of conspiring to overthrow the government and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
He was released in 1981 but it was only in 1987 that he was allowed to become politically active again on the order of the Supreme Constitutional Court. Dawoud fought a long legal battle until an administrative court approved the establishment of the Nasserist Party in 1992. In the same year, he was elected by a general party congress as the party's chairman.
Dawoud intends to run in the coming elections, representing his native town of Farasqour in Damietta governorate. He is particularly eager to solve the problems of irrigation and drainage in that constituency.

How do you view the coming parliamentary elections, now that the judiciary are supervising the entire process?
As a man of law, I believe that judicial supervision of the elections will minimise the scope of violence, wrong-doing and other negative phenomena which marred previous elections.
Yet, we should be cautious in our optimism about election results. First, we should bear in mind that the process of revising the lists of voters is not subject to judicial supervision. Secondly, most of those who go to the ballot boxes do not have electoral or even identity cards. So, the possibility of rigging the elections is still there.
As to the voters' turnout, I do not expect that it will be high. From past experience, people look at parliamentary elections with suspicion. It will take them some time to believe that the elections may be fair, and that their votes will have value. If these elections are well organised, the voter turnout in future elections may be higher.

What are your expectations for your party in the coming elections?
I do not think that we have a big chance in these elections. The number of party candidates, 40, is very modest. There is also another important factor I'd like to refer to, because it is bound to weaken our electoral performance. This is the shortage of money needed to support candidates. All we can offer is moral backing.

Why is the number of Nasserist candidates so small?
As I have just said, the party has gone through an acute financial crisis. Most party members became reluctant to take part in elections after they realised that the party will not support them in financing their campaigns.
This led to a severe drop in the number of candidates, who will have to depend completely on their own resources. The donations we received from senior members were allocated to supporting two or three candidates only. So, in these difficult circumstances, one should not expect that the number of candidates will be very large.

Do you fear that the internal party splits will affect the party's performance in the elections, or indeed the party's future?
Divisions inside parties are not anything new and are not limited to the Nasserist Party. There is no party in Egypt which is not subject to divisions. This is in the nature of political action. And in a party that believes in democracy, disputes are only natural. And yet these disputes do not have any effect on the party's performance. The number of members who quit the party's ranks did not exceed 100, out of 60,000 members. Of course, we wish we had not lost a single member.
And in spite of our differences with the dissidents, we still care for them and wish them the best of luck in the elections. We do not draw a distinction between Nasserist candidates, regardless of whether they are inside or outside the party.

How do you plead to the charge levelled by former party members that the party's leadership is dictatorial?
The party's leadership welcomes objective criticism and listens to others' points of view. Decisions are taken democratically and freely. He who claims otherwise should cite the example of a decision which was taken against the will of the majority.

After eight years of action on the political scene, the party has failed to attract all Nasserists, with their different affiliations. Why?
We are quite sure that 90 per cent of the people in Egypt belong to, or sympathise with, the Nasserist movement. Yet, they are not necessarily party members. Membership is limited to active cadres.
There is another important point I'd like to make. As long as the National Democratic Party remains the only ruling party, leaving no chance to any other party to reach the seats of power, people will always go after the party serving their interests regardless of ideology.

The general secretariat of the Arab Nasserist parties is not active yet. Would you explain why?
The general secretariat of the Arab Nasserist parties was formed last year with its headquarters in Cairo. The aim behind its formation was to achieve a level of coordination between the various Nasserist parties in the Arab world. It is better to unify our positions on Arab issues.
The secretariat, including member parties from Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Mauritius and Sudan, is active but on a very limited scale. Financial problems are the main obstacle preventing this organisation from becoming more active. Yet, efforts are being made to solve the financial problems and make the secretariat a truly active organisation.

 

	weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg