Party poopers

Al-Wasat has been denied a licence to operate as a political party for the fourth time, reports Mohamed El-Sayed

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Al-Wasat Party was last week denied a licence by the Shura Council's Political Parties Affairs Committee. It is the fourth time the Islamic-leaning party's application papers have been turned down. The party's founders first applied for the licence that would allow them to operate legally in 1996.

"The party's platform is no more than a set of unclear phrases and does not offer anything new to the political life of Egypt," said the committee. It also argued that many of the principles included in the party's proposed platform were already enshrined in the constitution or had been adopted by existing political parties.

The committee added that the names of the 1,200 founders of the party, which include half a dozen Copts and 44 women, "were published in two dailies in a font so small the names were unreadable and it was impossible to verify names, nationalities, profession or religion".

"The committee's ruling openly challenges the report issued by the State Council in which the party's platform was described as being distinct from other parties," Essam Sultan, a founding member of Al-Wasat, told Al-Ahram Weekly.

"The report issued by the committee -- which includes legal experts -- did not compare Al-Wasat's platform with those of existing political parties," complained Sultan. "The committee simply resorted to saying that some of the principles stated in the platform are either enshrined in the constitution or shared by people."

Sultan also argues that, "the committee discussed out of date versions of the party platform submitted in 1996 and 1998 instead of discussing the updated version submitted on 20 May this year".

He dismisses complaints about the small font used by newspapers to publish the names of the party's founders as little more than a joke. "The committee did not mention whether it had received complaints from any one else about this matter and should, in any case, have read the names of the 1,200 founders from the clearly typed application papers, not from newspapers." By using such spurious reasons to deny the party a licence the committees has, says Sultan, turned itself into a laughing stock.

Few commentators were surprised by the decision.

"The committee represents the ruling National Democratic Party [NDP]. It is not a neutral body," says Diaa Rashwan, political analyst at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. "The chairman of the committee, Safwat El-Sherif, is secretary-general of the NDP, and its key two members, Moufid Shehab and Habib El-Adli, are both cabinet ministers affiliated to the ruling party. The rest of its members are chosen by the president who is himself the head of the NDP."

"The regime," Radwan adds, "will always refuse to legalise a party that bases its platform on Islamic references, however moderate or new its principles are. The ruling NDP has enshrined this position in Article 5 of the constitution."

Rashwan also points out that many of the party's founders are former members of the Muslim Brotherhood, something that is unlikely to endear the new party to the regime. "There are clearly security concerns about Al-Wasat becoming a political party front for the Muslim Brotherhood should it obtain a licence," he told the Weekly.

Rashwan believes such security worries to have no real foundation. He points out that, "disagreements between the leadership of Al-Wasat and the Muslim Brotherhood have reached the point of no return" and adds that, "the Muslim Brotherhood will not join Al-Wasat because they are loath to form a political party in the first place."

Other analysts, like Fahmi Howeidi, argue that the government will always refuse to license credible political parties that might constitute a real challenge to the status quo. "The regime will not countenance a serious political party. Rather, the government wants farcical organisations in the mould of the 24 parties that currently exist," Howeidi wrote in the daily Al-Shorouk.

After 13 years of failed attempts to procure a licence one might expect Al-Wasat's founders to give up the ghost. But no, says Sultan. "We will not re-formulate our platform. Instead, we will file a lawsuit with the Higher Administrative Court to challenge the committee's decision."