When they gathered

Historians have not given the unprecedented meeting that took place in Cairo on 8 and 9 January 1935 sufficient attention in spite of its importance in the history of the Egyptian nationalist movement. The declared purpose of this jam-packed assembly was to demand the re-institution of the 1923 Constitution. Its non-declared purpose: to pave the way for the return of the Wafd to power after the many fallow years of the party's exclusion from power. Professor Yunan Labib Rizk relates this unprecedented conference

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Saad Zaghloul

Al-Ahram: A Diwan of contemporary life (560)

It is doubtful whether there is a single document in contemporary Egyptian history as important and controversial as the above mentioned constitution. Above all, this document was not promulgated by a constitutional assembly, contrary to the democratic custom established under the French Revolution with the promulgation of the world's first constitution in 1791. Rather, the 1923 Constitution was drafted by a committee -- the so-called Commission of Thirty appointed by King Fouad and consisting of a select group of political and intellectual elites. Understandably, this royally-appointed commission came under harsh criticism from Egyptian nationalist leaders. Indeed, Wafd Leader Saad Zaghloul memorably dubbed it the "Commission of Criminals". The nationalists' suspicions were well placed, for no sooner had the committee members drafted the constitution than the king inserted several provisions enhancing his powers.

Ironically, after the 1923 Constitution was ratified and put into effect, the Wafd was overwhelmingly swept into power in 1924 under the first elections held under it, to the great surprise of the Liberal Constitutionalists who perceived themselves as the fathers of the constitution. Suddenly, the tables were turned. Now it was the Liberal Constitutionalists who regarded their child with horror, and the Wafdists who adopted it and attempted to mould it more to their liking, the first step towards which was to amend it to provide for direct legislative elections as opposed to the two-tiered indirect system under the original constitution.

Less than a year after its promulgation, the nascent constitution was put to its first critical test. Following the assassination of the British governor-general of Sudan, the "People's Government" headed by Wafd Leader Saad Zaghloul was forced to resign and Egypt's first parliament under the new constitution was dissolved. Ahmed Ziwar Pasha was brought in to head an interim government, which virtually took its orders from the king. But Ziwar would quickly be eclipsed by the appointee to head the Ministry of Interior, Ismail Sidqi, the "wily fox of Egyptian politics", as his adversaries dubbed him. It was he who identified and attempted to exploit the loopholes in the constitution in order to manipulate the parliamentary elections scheduled for March 1925 to the disadvantage of the Wafd Party candidates. Yet, when the election results were announced on 23 March, Fouad and his supporters were once again stunned to find that the polls had brought in a parliament dominated by the Wafd. This parliament was dissolved on the day of its inaugural session and the constitution was suspended for more than a year on the grounds that it needed to be amended.

Eventually, however, Abdin Palace caved into pressure to hold another round of parliamentary elections. These took place in June 1926, in accordance with the provisions of the 1923 Constitution, and once again the Wafd won by a landslide: 159 out of the available 196 seats. Although the Wafd agreed to form a coalition government with the Liberal Constitutionalists and Zaghloul would not serve as prime minister, their landslide victory confirmed the value of, indeed their identity with, the 1923 Constitution. To the palace and the Liberal Constitutionalists this only confirmed their conviction that they had created a monster and strengthened their resolve to perform a form of euthanasia. The opportunity presented itself with the resignation of the Mustafa El-Nahhas cabinet on 25 June 1928. The first act of the Mohamed Mahmoud government that was appointed to succeed it was "to suspend parliamentary life for a renewable period of three years," which is to say, until further notice.

The ill-starred constitution remained frozen for nearly seven years, apart from an eight-month stretch dating from November 1929 to June the following year. In this interval, Prime Minister Adli Yakan, who succeeded Mahmoud's "iron grip" government, held elections which once again resulted in a sweeping Wafd victory, bringing El-Nahhas into power for the second time. Following the collapse of the El-Nahhas government in June, Ismail Sidqi was appointed to form a new government, which not only promptly dismissed the parliament but also promulgated a new constitution.

The nationalist movement now had an even tougher war to fight, as it had to contend with a constitution especially tailored to enhance the autocratic powers of the king. In its struggle for survival during the five years that became known as the Sidqi era was the re-instatement of the old constitution, a hope that eventually came true.

If the king and Sidqi had not quite succeeded in burying the 1923 Constitution, it cannot be said that this constitution had a particularly robust life. In the 13 years between its promulgation and the death of King Fouad in 1936, this constitution had not been in actual effect for more than a total of three years and eight months. Implementation was thus the exception; the rule in the constitution's brief life span was that it was generally put out of commission on various pretexts, and remained so until the nationalist movement -- generally through forms of peaceful resistance or the British, ever wary that the nationalist movement's resistance would boil over into violence directed against them -- succeeded in bringing it back into operation. General constitutional life would be restored under the auspices of an interim government, acceptable to all the major players, which would eventually arrange for new elections, as was the case with the Adli Yakan government which held elections in 1930. This was the expectation after 14 November 1934, with the formation of the Tawfiq Nasim government, which abrogated the 1930 Constitution and dissolved parliament. The nationalists, therefore, began preparations for another round of general elections to be held under the provisions of the 1923 Constitution.

It is in this context that the Wafd convened the National General Congress on 8 January 1935, two months after the Nasim government came to power. The unprecedented assembly was much more than a party convention, as is apparent from the Al- Ahram editorial of 12 January: "At the very least 35,000 gathered in a single location. They included ministers, notables, farmers, lawyers, doctors, engineers, merchants, journalists and mayors. All these diverse classes of men from the fields of politics, science, literature and business were united by a single idea and a single political outlook before they were brought together from diverse parts of the country in this single location. It was a splendid spectacle that was regarded as fully appreciated by the adversary as it was cheered by supporters."

Curiously, admission to this conference in Cairo was not free, a fact that was picked up on by a foreign journalist whose report was translated in Al-Ahram : "In the US a rally of 50,000 has become a familiar sight, whereas that 50,000-strong rally in Berlin which was addressed by Hitler was regarded as a miracle in European mass gatherings. But in both the US and Europe those thousands are able to attend without entrance tickets or invitations. The rally in Egypt was unique in that only ticket- bearers were allowed to attend." Al-Ahram adds that the foreign correspondents that were wandering from one tent to another in the convention were visibly awestruck.

The importance of the Wafd congress was underscored by the space Al-Ahram accorded to it in its editions of 9 January (10 out of 20 pages) and 10 January (6 out of 11 pages). This was no occasion for mere speech giving, even though it opened and closed with addresses delivered respectively by Wafd Leader Mustafa El- Nahhas and his Secretary-General Makram Ebeid. These speeches, in effect, were the bookends to 15 policy papers presented by party members and specialists on an array of political, legal, administrative, social, agricultural, industrial and public health issues. Undoubtedly, this is what inspired Al-Ahram to describe the collected speeches as "a detailed programme for a government that aspires to serve the country in all aspects of public life". It added that such a programme had long been lacking. "True, our various political parties have established political agendas that are known to all. However, these are not enough, for they do not cover all the duties that a government must undertake."

Apparently, the Wafd felt that its time to return to power was rapidly approaching and that it had to re-acquaint itself with the people after a five-year absence from government. The policy papers confirm this impression. Taking them in order, Mahmoud Basiouni spoke on farmers and village reform, Abdel-Salam Fahmi Gomaa on agricultural produce, Othman Muharram on irrigation and drainage projects, Youssef El-Guindi on Waqf (religious endowments) foundations and their reform, Mohamed Tawfiq Diab on the press and press freedom, Ahmed Thabet Mewafi on public health and tropical diseases, Mohamed Nassar on educational affairs in the Egyptian University and Al-Azhar, Ali Ayoub on cooperation in Egypt and the means to promote it, Mahmoud Riadh on "our social and economic relations with our foreign guests", Ahmed Maher on the economic crisis and the means to remedy it, Kamel Sidqi on the rights and systems of the practice of law, Mohamed Sabri Abu Alam on the judiciary and the capitulations system, Abbas Mahmoud El-Aqqad on Egypt's relations with the nations of the East, Ibrahim Abdel-Hadi on the advancement of industry in Egypt, and Aziz Mirham on the organisation of labour affairs.

Before these speeches, however, El-Nahhas, in his opening address, spoke at length on the Egyptian constitutional experience until 1923. He then paused at "the first fruit of the nation's liberation struggle", telling his audience that he still vividly recalled that day, on 15 March 1924, "when His Majesty the king and all the senators and representative took the constitution's pledge of allegiance". Here, El-Nahhas was interrupted by thundering applause, as though his audience sought to convey the message to the king that the people would not easily forget that he had violated his oath.

Although, as we mentioned, Tawfiq Nasim had recently abrogated the 1930 Constitution, El-Nahhas thundered away at it relentlessly. Under that "reactionary" document, as he described it, "the freedom of assembly was prohibited, except to the government's supporters, even if the gatherings were private and out of the jurisdiction of the laws. The freedom of movement was confiscated, and armies were ever on the alert, prepared to go to all excesses and indifferent to whom they attacked, in order to prevent political leaders from meeting with the people wishing to greet them. The freedom of the press was usurped, exposing free-minded writers to the sword of arbitrary clampdowns and martial laws. The sanctity of the court -- the refuge of the deprived, the bearer of the scales of justice and the foundation of just rule -- was violated by successive executive interventions, the system of martial courts and the dismissal of judges for rulings that were later supported on appeal."

The Wafd, El-Nahhas continued, would accept nothing less than a return to the 1923 Constitution. "This is our sacred sanctuary. Secured by a great oath and a system approved by all, it safeguards our freedom, delineates penalties and clarifies our rights and duties. It also stipulates the means for amending it, which can only take place in accordance with the relevant provisions and only if the amendment serves the welfare of the nation." This was another message directed at the occupant of Abdin Palace only a stone's throw away from this historic meeting.

It is only possible here to give a brief synopsis of some of the more relevant papers that followed the Wafd chief's opening address. On the state of the fellahin or farmers, Mahmoud Basiouni cited the statistics from experts indicating that some nine million of Egypt's farmers owned less than five feddans of land, if they owned any at all. In addition, economic circumstances in the countryside were so dire that "large numbers of fellahin have been forced to migrate to the cities in search of work as construction workers, fruit and vegetable vendors, or guards in public streets or for private homes."

Speaking on a related topic, Abdel-Salam Fahmi did not make the picture any brighter. "God has blessed Egypt with a unique geographic location, fertile land, an equable climate and plenty of water for irrigation, all of which with the proper organisation could produce an abundance of high-quality crops that would enable Egyptian agriculture to take the world's markets by storm. However, it is a pity and a pity for all Egyptians that their country imports agricultural produce from other nations, including fundamental foodstuffs, such as wheat, flour, butter and fruit. If only this were limited to a handful of the opulent. But no, the phenomenon has become so widespread that even the food that feeds Egyptian producers arrives in enormous quantities." Not surprisingly, Fahmi laid the blame for this on the current and previous governments. He then proposed a remedy, one that experts have not been able to apply until now.

The noted irrigation engineer, Othman Muharram, extolled the contributions of Wafdist governments to the expansion of irrigation systems in Egypt. It was under the Wafd's leadership that the nation made the Aswan Dam higher and began "to reap the fruits of this practical Wafdist policy". It was the Wafdists, too, "who laid the solid foundations for the drainage projects, thereby realising their aspiration to link irrigation projects with drainage projects". He added, "we must not relax our efforts for a moment in our tasks of optimising on our increased reservoirs of water and of expanding and enhancing drainage operations."

While the foregoing topics would elicit little response from the audience, the same would not apply to Mohamed Tawfiq Diab's speech on the press and press freedom. It was not just the substance that had his audience cheering; Diab, owner of the Al-Jihad newspaper, was an eloquent rhetorician and he had his listeners' sympathy, having not that long ago been imprisoned for his impassioned views.

Following a survey of the development of press freedoms in Egypt, Diab homed in on the attrition on these freedoms under Sidqi. Not only did that notorious prime minister invoke provisions from the old penal code -- permitting for the suspension or closure of a newspaper -- but he added to them, increased fines and prison sentences, and expanded their scope of application. "If the penalty for such and such an offense was five piastres, Sidqi said to himself 'why not make it 20,' and if the maximum penalty was half a year in prison, he upped it to a year." Such was the nature of the "Sidqi calamities" that were visited on the press. But the biggest disaster of all was the "new publications crime invented by the ingenious in 1932. This crime constituted the use of expressions that could incite hatred or contempt for the established system of government in Egypt or cast aspersions on its legitimacy or authority; or the publication of false news reports to this effect."

On a less emotive note, Mohamed Nassar, speaking on education, maintained that political events and the struggle for power had diverted attention from education. "The drive for the advancement of education towards its ideal should have guided our every step since the nation won its first glorious political victories. Regrettably, politic events and personal ends have only reaped further corruption and confusion in the system of education."

One imagines that the thousands attending the Wafd national congress were preparing to stifle their yawns at the upcoming speech by Mahmoud Riadh on "social and economic relations with our foreign guests". Here comes another one of those long disquisitions on the history of foreign communities and businesses in Egypt, they might have thought. They were in for a surprise. Almost immediately, Riadh zeroed in on his audience's central and most immediate concerns. To the Egyptian people, he said, the Sidqi era wrought unprecedented degradation of their dignity. "Nevertheless, many foreigners here either were unaware of this or ignored it, as they unabashedly praised the Sidqi era for its great deeds. Indeed, some of them even believed his oft repeated claim that his government and his parliament accurately represented the nation... These people chose to remain ignorant until chaos reigned, corruption ran rampant and the scandals that you are now aware of began to surface, such as in the Corniche construction, the tampering in the cotton exchange, the irregularities in irrigation water distribution and the incidents of torture. Eventually, foreigners began to realise that their material interests were at risk and only then did they begin to see the situation with open eyes."

Ahmed Maher also lashed out against the Sidqi government for its handling of the global recession on Egypt. "Blind partisanship" was this government's guiding principle in all the palliatives it introduced. "To receive a share of the aid and assistance that were to be distributed among the victims of the crisis you had to bargain away your convictions. In effect, his painkillers were traps and snares."

The last to deliver a policy paper was Aziz Mirham who charged that Sidqi had attempted to subvert the democratic creed of the proletariat. Sidqi created artificial unions and fraudulent federations whose appointed officials "cautioned workers to refrain from engaging in politics while behind the scenes they recruited supporters and aids to promote the government's policies among their fellow workers." He continued, "when the workers discovered these machinations, they forced Dawoud Bek to resign as chairman of the federation and elected the honourable Abbas Halin to replace him. Once again, the workers demonstrated that they will destroy all who attempt to tamper with their syndicate interests or their national principles."

Al-Ahram described Makram Ebeid's closing address as the "concluding musk", in reference to the perfume that was once traditionally sprinkled on a letter before it was sealed. It was also the longest speech, taking up three full pages in the paper, in which the Wafd secretary-general outlined his party's policies on national independence, the constitution and reform. On one occasion, he expressed his surprise that there were people who thought that the constitution and independence were two different things. However, he said, "the constitution is internal independence, both in theory and effect. Independence has no value if both these conditions do not apply. Nothing could be more indicative of this than the fact that the colonialists in their fight against the Wafd took up arms against our very constitutional life by either suspending it, diminishing it or destroying it!"

In its editorial of 13 January 1935, Al-Ahram discussed the four resolutions adopted by the convention. To the writer of the op-ed piece, the second was the most important. It called for "the full and unimpaired restoration of the 1923 Constitution so that the people can resume free and democratic life and under these conditions turn their attention to the reform of their government services and other vital affairs."

Clearly the Wafdists, indeed most members of the nationalist movement, believed that this wish would be granted soon. In fact, the Nasim government would not fulfil the demand before another 11 months had passed, during which many other momentous events would build the necessary momentum.