Issue No. 607
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10 - 16 October 2002 Issue No. 607 Home news |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
A liberal mess
Who will lead the Liberal Party? After party members held five separate elections proclaiming five different chairmen, the Shura Council's Political Parties Committee now faces the task of sorting out the mess. Mona El-Nahhas reports
Five members of the Liberal Party have declared themselves the duly elected leader of the organisation. The party, which has been without a chairman since 1998, witnessed a flurry of activity during the past two weeks with five separate elections -- four of them held on the same day -- to choose a leader.
Hemeida
El-Sadat
On 4 October three conventions at various venues in Cairo proclaimed as winners Ragab Hilal Hemeida -- the party's only member of parliament -- having garnered 1,065 votes; Talaat El-Sadat, brother of the late President Anwar El-Sadat, who received 1,270 votes; and Mohamed Farid Zakaria, one of the party's founders, who claimed the leadership mantle with 329 votes. That same day in Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, a convention declared Medhat Naguib party chairman after he won 500 votes.
Last weekend's action was preceded on 27 September by a convention held by Helmi Salem, the Liberal Party's secretary-general, during which he claimed to have captured the top job after obtaining 678 votes.
Another six members of the party who had been fighting over the party's leadership since its former leader Mustafa Kamel Murad passed away in 1998, did not hold conventions.
Election results were submitted to the Shura Council's Political Parties Committee which is expected to rule on the matter soon. The committee licenses new parties and has the power to dissolve those violating the country's electoral laws.
The Political Parties Committee in July gave the Liberal Party three months to hold a general meeting to elect a new chairman. That deadline came up on 4 October.
In the wake of the five conventions, the "winners" had plenty to say about the other contenders, accusing each other of failing to follow party statutes in conducting the contests as well as alleging that their opponents had rigged the contests. In the midst of such mudslinging, the only thing the would-be chairmen agreed on was that the matter should be settled by the Political Parties Committee.
The Liberal Party's mouthpiece, the daily Al-Ahrar, has ignored the whole imbroglio, preferring not to take sides until it is settled.
Although it is unclear whether the Political Parties Committee will select a chairman from among the contenders or impose other measures altogether, such as suspending the party, some of the winners were outspoken about what lies ahead.
Talaat El-Sadat predicted that the Political Parties Committee will rule in favour of Hemeida, insinuating that two top governmental figures back him.
Hemeida, describing himself as "the quarrelsome MP", denies El-Sadat's allegation. "It's nonsense. How could the government support a person who constantly criticises its policies and submits heaps of requests for information criticising its performance?"
Hemeida defended his convention, saying that it was run in accordance with party statutes. He said 14 members of the secretariat- general and 144 members of the party's permanent committee attended and that the event achieved a quorum. He also said that glass ballot boxes were used.
Hemeida vowed to file complaints before the Prosecutor-General, accusing the other contenders of rigging the elections and submitting forged papers to the Political Parties Committee.
Party Secretary-General Salem characterised the other four conventions as violating the party's internal statutes. He said that under these, the secretary-general must call a general assembly. Salem submitted a memorandum to the Political Parties Committee detailing what he believes were the violations to party statues by the other conventions.
The Liberals are not the only political force to have recently faced intense internal discord. In May 2000, the Political Parties Committee suspended the Islamist-oriented Labour Party and banned the publication of its mouthpiece, Al-Shaab, owing to an internal power struggle.
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