20 - 26 September 2001
Issue No.552
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 20 - 26 September 2001 Issue No.552 |
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Nasserists act to reform their party
Citing stagnation and flagging confidence, Nasserist Secretary-General Dia'eddin Dawoud says the party needs a jolt of reform, reports Rana Allam
In preparation for the third general congress of the Nasserist Democratic Party, due in December, Secretary-General Dia'eddin Dawoud says the party will need to undergo "major changes" in order to be able to face the tasks ahead. These tasks, he notes, are to "deal with the economic, social and political challenges" facing society. In its present condition, says Dawoud, his party finds itself unable to do so.
The Nasserists' leader Dawoud
Government policies have pushed the national economy to a difficult situation, Dawoud argues, "by overlooking public interest and focusing on encouraging the private sector". But Dawoud also conceded an internal crisis within the Nasserist Party, saying that "it lacks active members, public action and second-in- line leaders". Moreover, Dawoud says that the party lacks organisational efficiency and a united strategic outlook, saying that the party is wallowing in stagnation. "We do not have enough members to form a powerful party," Dawoud admitted. "No public activities are under way and people are far removed from the ideology of our party."
The different sectors of the Nasserist movement are not united under one strategy. If this situation continues, says Dawoud, the next general congress will fail to add to the party's political power or influence.
Since the formal establishment of the party in 1992, two Nasserist factions were brought into the fold of the organisation -- and they continue to struggle against each other. The so-called Old Guard, also known as the 'May group', whose members were imprisoned in May 1971 by the late President Anwar El-Sadat, are continually trying to rein in the younger generation of Nasserists -- those who, as students in the 1970s, upheld the Nasserist banner and sometimes won student union elections. The Old Guard fretted that the party's leadership would be taken over by a younger, less experienced generation, while the younger group insisted that the Old Guard should surrender their hold over the party in favour of modernisation.
In March 1996, the power struggle reached a peak when Dawoud suspended five leading members of the younger generation for a year, banning them from participation in the party elections held that same year. These elections were followed by a party congress that confirmed the Old Guard's leadership. Suspended younger members accused the party leadership of dictatorship and dismissed the elections as neither free nor fair. Some resigned from the party's membership.
Other internal conflicts erupted within the party's ranks in the following years. In 1997, two of the party's founders, Mohamed Fawzi and Sami Sharaf, protested a book authored by party member Abdallah Imam on the grounds that it tarnished the image of Nasser and his men. Fawzi and Sharaf, respectively defence minister and presidential affairs minister under Nasser, walked out of the party when Dawoud refused to dismiss Imam.
Financial problems also surfaced and the party sunk into debt exceeding LE1 million. Dawoud made a deal with businessman Essam Fahmi that exchanged a bailout from the party's debts for control over the party's newspaper. As expected, party members reacted angrily to the 'privatisation' of their mouthpiece and the deal fell through.
As a result of power struggles, defections and financial problems, the Nasserist Party only fielded 40 candidates in the November 2000 parliamentary elections. Other hopefuls withdrew because the party could not find the financial support for their campaigns.
Dawoud is currently making a bid to improve the party's dismal situation. "We have to form a preparatory committee for the December 2001 general congress," he declared, explaining that this committee should try to establish contact with inactive and defected members and regain their confidence. It should also make attempts to unite all Nasserists under the party's umbrella in order to inject new blood and promote the party's image and political role.
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