Two opposition parties -- the Democratic Front and the Tagammu -- are staging elections amid divisions and struggles, reports Mona El-Nahhas

Revolving doors

The Democratic Front, once hailed as a beacon for reform, is as divided as ever

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Members of the liberal Democratic Front Party head to the ballot boxes on 14 March to elect the party chairman, among other leading posts. The elections come against a backdrop of chaos within a party that when was launched was seen by many commentators as a promising vehicle for political reform. In recent months, however, it has been mired in increasingly acrimonious disputes as internal power struggles broke out, resignations were submitted then withdrawn, and the party descended into the kind of paralysing infighting that has stymied the official opposition. Tellingly, the venue for party elections has yet to be decided.

While Anwar Esmat El-Sadat, currently deputy chairman, is expected to secure the post of secretary-general, the battle for party chairman is far from clear cut. Of the ten candidates standing, the frontrunners are first deputy chairman Osama El-Ghazali Harb, and Ali El-Salmi, one of the party's founders. Only last week Harb announced his decision not to contest the election, only to backtrack, while El-Salmi, who resigned from the party last September, said last week he was withdrawing his resignation in order to compete.

El-Salmi's decision to stand, while welcomed by some party members who see it as an opportunity to finally end months of chaos, has been contested by Harb on legal grounds. El-Salmi, he argues, forfeited his right to stand when he resigned from the party, and his name was removed from party lists. Harb's objections are currently being heard by an internal committee established to resolve election disputes.

El-Salmi told Al-Ahram Weekly, "Harb knows perfectly well my nomination is legal... the committee in charge of supervising elections would never have accepted my nomination papers if it thought I had no right to run." In September El-Salmi cited deteriorating conditions within the party as the reason for his resignation. Ironically, he cites the same reasons as being behind his decision to stand.

Such repeated U-turns on the part of leading party members are symptomatic of ongoing infighting between several groups. The most recent battle has been between factions headed by Harb and El-Sadat. The war of words between the two has been reported by newspapers for three weeks now, beginning with attempts to dismiss El-Sadat from the party, a move initially supported by Harb. When the latter backed down the bad feeling continued, escalating the divisions that threaten to tear the party apart.

El-Salmi says he decided to withdraw his resignation in an attempt to help bring the party together by presenting a plan of action on which he believes all factions can agree. His return to the fold followed a call by the party's higher committee on those members that had resigned to withdraw their resignations, and a decision to extend the period for election nominations until 27 February, allowing returnees to submit candidacy papers should they wish. As a result, voting, scheduled for 29 February, was delayed until 14 March.

Yet only a few days ahead of the revised date for the elections, six members of the higher committee announced their own resignation, in protest, they said, against the decisions of both Harb and El-Sadat to stand, something which, they argued, would only exacerbate existing decisions. Their decision was greeted with dismay among their supporters, who organised a sit-in at the party headquarters, demanding the six members of the higher committee continue in their posts. The six, including secretary-general Mansour Hassan, who intends to run for the post of the deputy chairman, duly obliged.

There are reports that 140 party members in the provinces have also submitted their resignations in protest at the internal divisions and the party's consequent failure to attract popular support.

Since the majority of party members agree, it is the coming elections which will determine whether the party will overcome its current crisis or head for a downfall.

"We intend to make a new start and introduce fundamental changes to the party to make it a real party, a party which has a strong existence in political life," El-Sadat told the Weekly.