Mobilising the NDP
The ruling party's cadres were mobilised this week to keep anti-war protests in check. Gamal Essam El-Din reports
America's war on Iraq has posed a serious challenge to the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). The party's senior leaders, including MPs, members of the general-secretariat and chairmen of provincial offices, were taken aback by the public's angry response to the war on 20 and 21 March. In fact, the virulent protests prompted the NDP to move swiftly -- in coordination with the Interior Ministry and local councils -- to calm a potentially hazardous situation.
According to NDP Secretary-General Safwat El-Sherif, party members in every governorate must be prepared to explain to the public that "Egypt's internal security must be maintained in the face of any violent acts, and above all considerations."
NDP deputies and ordinary members crowded three urgent meetings with El-Sherif, where they were instructed to brace themselves for "a battle against all those attempting to exploit this crisis to destabilise the country".
One way the NDP has decided to pursue this objective involves setting up councils in each of the country's 26 governorates, with a mandate to contain the levels of tension caused by the public's emotional reaction to the war. Each council includes 150 party members and is headed by its respective governor. In this respect, Minister of State for Local Development Mustafa Abdel- Qader held an urgent meeting with the governors to discuss ways in which the new councils could be used to protect the country from illegal riots and demonstrations.
The councils began their work on 20 March, just hours after America launched its first air strikes. The next day, provincial governors instructed local council members (most of whom are NDP) and senior security officers to be on high alert, in preparation for the protests which were certain to follow Friday prayers across the country. Mosque preachers were asked by the Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowments) not to delve into the Iraq issue during their sermons. Preachers were also informed that Al-Azhar, Islam's most revered centre of learning, had not called for a jihad against the Americans. According to El-Sherif, Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi said the war on Iraq "could never be described as a crusader war". In fact, said El-Sherif, the term "crusader war" was originally coined by the West and has nothing to do with war.
Addressing the NDP's media secretariat on Saturday, El-Sherif further outlined the newly formed councils' main objectives: to explain Egypt's official position on the war against Iraq to the public. "These councils will tell people that they have the right to vent their anger, but in a peaceful and reasonable manner. In other words, the public must not look to those "'illegal elements' aiming to use this crisis to settle old accounts with the government and destabilise the country".
A "worksheet" was distributed to NDP members as a way of helping them respond to the public's questions. "It was extremely important that the party prepare this sheet so as not to let citizens fall prey to rumours and hearsay," said El-Sherif. The sheet features eight questions and answers, none of which contain a hint of criticism of the United States. Rather, the sheet welcomes US President George Bush's announcement regarding America's commitment to establishing a Palestinian state in 2005. It also indicates that Egypt's position on the Iraqi issue is similar to that of France and Germany. "We support the reasonable stance adopted by these two countries," it says, "that America and England's insistence on using force to disarm Iraq will undermine integral pillars of international peace and downgrade the United Nations' role in maintaining this peace."
The blame for the war, was squarely placed on Iraq. According to El-Sherif, "you must be aware of this regime's awful record, beginning with the pressure it placed on all the Arab states to sever their relations with Egypt (after it signed a peace treaty with Israel), and ending with the two bloody wars against Iran and Kuwait." El-Sherif also said he was surprised by "those military analysts who exaggerate Iraq's military might. The Iraqi army has been under comprehensive siege, and has not trained for over ten years."
At another internal party meeting on the same subject held two days earlier, El-Sherif also blamed the Iraqi regime for choosing not to receive the committee created by the recent Sharm El-Sheikh summit. "This has worsened conditions and left this regime in complete isolation," he said.
One attendant asked El-Sherif whether Egypt was next on the US's target list. Vehemently dismissing the suggestion, the NDP secretary- general said he "wondered why some would think that, when Egypt is a regional power, well known for its moderate policies and enlightened Islam. Besides," said El-Sherif, "we are completely different from the dictatorial regime in Iraq. We are a democratic nation."
