Al-Ahram Weekly Issue No. 251 14 - 20 December 1995
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

Housing hope

By Fayza Hassan

DURING The reign of Mohamed Ali, reforms were taking place in every possible field, "Along with the need for reform came a belated awareness that an efficient control of the countryside could not be imposed from the urban centres alone," writes Afaf Lutfi Al-Sayyid Marsot. The collaboration of rural leaders was needed. In August 1829, the Majlis Al-Shura was assembled. "The Majlis, the first of its kind, met under the presidency of Ibrahim Pasha who referred to it as his 'parliament,'" writes Marsot. The majlis had no legislative powers, she points out, "but it did pass a series of recommendations that became standard procedures." Mohamed Ali, according to PM Holt, was followed by rulers who had little use for advisory councils, and did little tp keep up the pretence.

IN 1866, Ismail introduced an important development, the creation of a quasi-parliamentary body, the Assembly of Delegates (Majlis Shurat Al-Nuwwab). It consisted of 75 members, chosen by indirect election. Candidates were selected by popular vote and these "delegates of the people" would elect members to the Assembly. Only five members represented the great towns of Cairo and Alexandria while the great majority of the members were village headmen, writes Holt. The Assembly of Delegates was created by a Regiment, or decree. It contained two statutes, the Laiha Asasiya, which was the statute of foundation of the Assembly but really amounted to the first attempt at writing an Egyptian constitution, and the Laiha Tanzimiya (Statute of Organisation).

The first paragraph of the Laiha defined the powers of the Assembly, which could "deliberate on the country's internal matters" and "give an opinion" on projects which the "government deemed within the scope of the majlis' deliberations"; this opinion was then submitted to the approval of his Majesty the Victory. The Assembly had an advisory role; its suggestions would then be presented to the khedive for approval or rejection.

Its constitution and structure were clearly inspired by European practice of the time, and it imitated, often in detail, the procedures of the French Assemblee Nationale and other similar institutions.

Although Ismail's Assembly performed only an advisory function with no legislative powers, it is important to remember that Egyptian parliamentary constitutions developed from these modest beginnings. Rafi' El-Tahtawi, in his book Manafi' Al-Albab (1869), praises Ismail for the introduction of the Assembly in the life of "an Umma of free opinion", which he was consulting on matters that concerned it, El-Tahtawi was among the few who foresaw the importance of this first Assembly of Delegates in the development of Egypt's political life.

The last Assembly under Ismail's rule convened on 2 January 1879 and lasted until July. It opened amidst public unrest caused by European threats to Egypt's autonomy. The delegates protested what became known as the European government due to the presence of a French minister of public works and a British minister of finance. The Dual Control, established to control the "Caisse de la Dette Publique" or the public debt (i.e. the debt owed by Ismail to his European creditors), was far from popular, the newspapers of the time did little to assuage the defiant mood, expressing their hopes that the Assembly would not renege on its duties to defend the rights of the Umma.

"Ismail's address to the Assembly was brief, asking the delegates to consider financial as well as public matters. But the spirit of self-assertion had taken root in the Assembly. In their reply to the opening address, the delegates expressed clearly the right of the Egyptian Umma to freedom and the right of the Assembly to participate in the formulation of decisions bearing on the future of Egypt," writes Abdel-Rahman El-Rafi'i.

Deliberations took a turn that was not favourable to the khedive; the most prominent delegates opposed a decree regarding financial matters which had been issued on 6 January 1879 without prior presentation to the Assembly. This incident prompted Ismail to take a momentous decision. On 7 April 1879, he revoked the Assembly. The delegates, however, refused to disperse without first inspecting the government's financial policy. Ismail had to bow to the wishes of the Assembly and replaced Nubar by Sharif Pasha, whose first act as prime minister was to declare that the Assembly would remain in session.

On 17 May 1879, Sharif presented to the Assembly what amounted to the second attempt at drafting a national constitution. He promised he would also present a new Electoral Law, Laihat Al-Intikhab. This project was not only the fruit of Sharif's efforts to increase the powers of the legislative body over the executive, it reflected the spirit of a using nationalist movement, with membership drawn from the Egyptian officers, as well as notables and dignitaries from all over the country. A dramatic turn occurred at this juncture; Ismail was deposed in June 1879, and the years 1879 and 1882 culminated in the Urabi Revolution, the formation of a nationalist-led ministry in 1882, and British military intervention that summer which intended with the de facto British occupation of the country in 1882.

IN THE THREE YEARS leading to the British intervention to protect the foreign interests threatened by the nationalist movement, there were attempts to ask Tawfik, Ismail's successor, to convene a new parliament along more liberal lines. Finally a petition bearing 1,600 signatures was presented to Tawfik in 1881. The Assembly of Delegates convened according to the original 1866 Laiha Asasiya. The decree issued on 4 October 1881, was brief. It called for new elections, fixed the date of the new inauguration of the Assembly and charged the minister of the interior with its execution.

On 3 December 1881, the new session of the Assembly was officially opened, writes Abdel-Rahman El-Rafi'i. One of the points stressed by Khedive Tawfik in his opening address was that "the delegates in their deliberations... should always take Egypt's contracts with European powers into account." One of the delegates, recounts El-Rafi'i, delivered an oral reply to the khedive's opening speech, emphasising "the important reforms which the Egyptian Umma expected from the Assembly.

The new Laiha, a modified draft of Sharif Pasha's, was brought before the Assembly and adopted after it had been signed by the khedive. The proceedings of the Assembly continued to be closed to the public. The subjects the Assembly debated were improvements in agriculture and irrigation, regulation of commerce, reforms in the judiciary, compulsory primary education, regulation of pensions and the new Electoral Law, as cited by El-Rafi'i from Al-Waqa'i Al-Misriya of 22 February to 20 April 1882. The session ended on 26 March of that year.

Sharif Pasha's draft had originally contained a number of truly liberal measures. It is this draft, with the modifications proposed by the Assembly, that formed the final decree signed by the khedive on 7 February 1882.

Two points of utmost importance represented delicate issues to be dealt with carefully. The first stipulated that "the budget was to be examined by the Assembly and not come into force until passed by it." But the two Controllers - General insisted -- on behalf of Egypt's foreign creditors -- that the Assembly should in no way interfere with the budget. The second point stipulated that "no treaty, contract or engagement of the government with a third party was to be valid unless ratified by the Assembly."

In its final form, the decree signed by Tawfik conformed closely to Sharif's 1881 project with certain alterations submitted by Mohamed Sultan Pasha, president of the Assembly. Supervision of the budget was accorded to the Assembly, albeit within clearly defined limits, but not the power to ratify treaties and contracts. Be that as it may, an important threshold in the parliamentarian history of modern Egypt had been reached, establishing precedents for the future laws which were to regulate relations between the representative institutions and the executive apparatus.

In March 1882, Qanun Al-Intikhab (the Electoral Law) was added, inspired by the previous electoral laws but aiming at an increased representation. Sharif's constitution was never properly tested, however, as the Urabi Revolution and the British occupation resulted in the suspension of parliamentary life.

Following their imposition of control on Egypt, the British organised Egyptian parliamentary life along the lines of the Indian model, according to a Regulatory Law, issued by Tawfik, which provided for more than one council: Mudiriya Councils, the Legislative Council and the General Assembly. The Mudiriya Councils comprised 3 to 8 members, headed by the governor of the Mudiryia. In fact, none of these institutions was allowed to function independently or effectively until 1906, when Egyptian participation was increased to assuage public unrest following the Dinishway affair.

In 1913, Lord Kitchner who had returned to Egypt after 11 years of absence was working on ousting Khedive Abbas Helmi who had pro-German tendencies and who had turned to the nationalists in his struggle against British occupation. The recent assassination of Prime Minister Butros Ghali indicated a resurgence of nationalist sentiments which was worrying the British. Cromer who had a history of conflicts with the khedive advised nevertheless against the move of this particular time (the eve of World War I). Concessions would have to be made instead, to the politically conscious group: A new Legislative Assembly was created replacing the bi-cameral system and "superseding the two former bodies and with somewhat greater powers. Its most prominent member was Saad Zaghloul," writes PM Holt. This Assembly was suspended when the war was declared.

A more direct form of British rule was established in 1914 and colonial planners may have looked forward to the smooth integration of Egypt into the Empire. But the political, social and economic conditions of the country as it emerged from the war were propitious grounds for a revival of nationalist feelings which eventually produced an unprecedented popular uprising against the British.

THE 1919 REVOLUTION was the crystallisation of accumulated hatred against the occupation, the birth of a sense of identity and the resentment against the misery brought on the Egyptian people by the war in the form of requisitioning of animals and foodstuff, drafting of peasants by the hundred thousands for forced labour in the Allied armies, food shortages and raging inflation. All these factors set the stage for the people's uprising.

The year 1919 witnessed the involvement of a broad section of the population in the struggle for its independence, together with the birth of a labour movement which would become intimately linked to the nationalist movement and give Egypt's national politics its direction in the decades to come.

Historians often cite the main reason for the revolution as the arrest and exile of Saad Zaghloul. It may well have been the pretext. After an informal meeting of the Legislative Assembly which had been suspended during the war years, Saad Zaghloul together with other Egyptian nationalists formed a delegation (wafd) with the intent to present the case for Egypt's independence to the British Government and to the forthcoming Versailles Conference which was to convene on 18 January 1919. The Wafd (the nucleus of the future Wafd Party) was prevented from leaving the country. With popular feelings against the British running high, Zaghloul organised a campaign to gain signatures on a petition supporting the wafd's request.

On 8 March the British arrested Zaghloul and two of his followers and the next day deported them to Malta. On 9 March the first peaceful protest demonstration took place involving mainly students at first. Gradually other protesters joined in and by 10 March the demonstrators were clashing with the security forces. The following days witnessed an unprecedented escalation of popular protests which ended in bloody clashes with the British forces. Attacks against British installations and personnel were carried out simultaneously while organised strikes paralysed the country. The whole Egyptian population had united in an attempt to rid itself of British occupation. Soon the revolution spread to the countryside where the British in retaliation burned and razed entire villages. Still every day saw a new escalation of the conflict.

Unable to quell the rebellion the British back-tracked. Saad Zaghloul was allowed to return. But it was too late for the British. The struggle continued, with Zaghloul and the Wafd Party at the helm, usually political but often taking the form of demonstrations, boycotts and sporadic acts of violence against the British and their collaborators.

The immediate result of the 1919 Revolution was the Declaration of Independence announcing the end of the Protectorate and the recognition of Egypt as "an independent, sovereign state." Martial Law, which had been in force since 2 November 1914, was to be terminated on the passing of the Act of Indemnity. Four matters were "absolutely reserved to the discretion" of the British government until agreements concerning them could be negotiated.

These were: a) the security of the communications of the British Empire in Egypt; b) the defence of Egypt against all foreign aggression direct or indirect; c) the protection of foreign interests in Egypt and the protection of minorities; d) the question of the Sudan. The first, second and last "reserved matters" were to be the subject of repeated and frustrated negotiations and the cause of much of the political unrest throughout the following thirty years.

ANOTHER RESULT was the promulgation of the 1923 Constitution drafted by a 32-member Constitutional Commission. Compromises had to be made under British pressure but in the end, Egypt was granted its first real National Constitution promulgated by royal decree on 19 April 1923. It provided for a bi-cameral system, a Senate (Majlis Al-Shuyukh) and a Chamber of Deputies (Majlis Al-Nuwwab). Half the members of the Senate were to be replaced every five years and up to 40 per cent of the senators could be nominated by the king. The deputies were to be elected by indirect popular vote. There would be one senator for every 180,000 citizens and one deputy for every 60,000.

The king had the right to select and appoint the prime minister and the Senate president. He also had the power to convene and dissolve parliament at his will. No decree could be passed unless passed by both chambers then signed by the king. The constitution empowered the king over parliament and for this reason, in the years to come he would abuse this privilege whenever parliament's decisions ran against this will.

Over the next few years the Egyptian Parliament weathered several crises all caused by the king's or the British's unwarranted interventions in parliamentary life underlining the ongoing struggle between the occupation forces, the autocracy of the king's rule and the beginning of true democracy, writes Aleyeddin Helal, as well as a lack of confidence of parliament in the successive governments with which the chambers were in constant conflict. From 1919 to 1936 there were 20 governments and 8 sets of negotiations in which Egypt ceaselessly tried to whittle away British privileges. In 1936 largely because of the fascist Italian threat from Libya and Abyssinia, Egypt and Britain finally came together to sign the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty.

THE FIRST PARLIAMENT convening according to the 1923 Constitution opened on 15 March 1942 for its first session after the elections in which the Wafd Party registered a sweeping victory. It was to be followed by nine parliaments from this date until February 1952 when the 1923 Constitution was finally abrogated.

The 1924 Parliament was plagued with tensions which threatened to develop into fully blown conflicts at any time. The three elements responsible for the very volatile situation were the Wafd Party, which thrived on popular support and fought the British unwaveringly, the king, inclined to despotism, who wanted to limit the constitution which curtailed his powers, and the British who found their interest served by playing them off against each other. The man characteristic of this parliament was the violent resentment of all its members against the British. Saad Zaghloul eventually resigned over the assassination of Sir Lee Stack, sirdar and governor general of the Sudan. The government fell and the parliament adjourned for one month.

After Saad Zaghloul's death in 1927, the struggle for independence continued and so did the conflicts between the king the parliament and the British. In March 1928 Tharwat Pasha, the then prime minister, resigned over objections by parliament to the Tharwat-Chamberlain talks. The government was replaced by a coalition government headed by Mustafa El-Nahhas who had taken Saad Zaghloul's place as leader of the Wafd Party. Soon this government was at loggerheads with both the palace and the British who attempted to break the coalition by playing one party against the other. Furthermore, details of what became known as the "Seif El-Din affair" were leaked to the press to discredit El-Nahhas. The king finally demanded the resignation of the government.

Mohamed Mahmoud Pasha replaced El-Nahhas and formed a new government which suspended parliament for a month. The king with a government of his choice ruled during this period by royal decree. Parliament met however in defiance of the dissolution order at the house of Murad El-Sherei and declared the suspension of the Constitution void and the parliament still in session. A vote of non-confidence was passed against the government by both chambers. Both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies met again in November 1928 in the building of Al-Balagh publication to confirm the unconstitutionality of the government. These events provoked renewed popular unrest and protests against the government especially after the Mohamed Mahmoud-Chamberlain talks failed. The Wafd organised demonstrations which caused the government to resign.

Eventually a new government was formed, headed by Adli Yakan with a return to constitutional life. Elections brought the Wafd back and El-Nahhas announced the composition of his new government on 1 January 1930. The first session of parliament opened on 11 January. This government did not last six months. It was dismissed by the king in June 1930, under the pretext that it had been "unable to implement its programme." Ismail Sidki's government which followed had the dubious honour of adjourning parliament for a month then on 12 July dismiss it before it had time to vote the budget, an eminently unconstitutional move. Parliament met again in defiance, at the Saadist Club for a further vote of non-confidence.

ON 22 OCTOBER 1930, the 1923 Constitution was abrogated to be replaced by a new bi-cameral constitution on less liberal lines which aimed at curtailing the power of parliament it provided for indirect elections, raised the age of electors to 25 years and restricted the right to vote subject to income. From this moment on and until its abrogation in 1935 the battles between the king and the national movement centred around the restoration of the 1923 Constitution.

The 1931 elections took place in a climate of unrest. The Sidki government resigned on 27 September 1933 and was followed by those of Abdel-Fattah Yehyia (27 September 1933 - 14 November 1934) and Mohamed Tawfik Nissim, 14 November 1934 who dissolved parliament on 30 November of the same year. Once more all powers were vested in the king until a new constitution could be drafted to replace the 1923 and the 1930 Constitution.

On 12 December 1936 the king finally bowing to public demand restored the 1923 Constitution (unchanged) by royal decree. Elections took place under Ali Maher's government bringing the Wafd back once more, in a sweeping victory.

EL-NAHHAS was the prime minister to whom befell the honour of signing the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty which gave Egypt a certain degree of independence but not enough to satisfy the strong popular feelings of nationalism. Britain retained the responsibility of the defence of the Suez Canal as well as the right to station troops there. The question of sovereignty over the Sudan remained unresolved. The people wanted full independence and the signing of the treaty cost El-Nahhas his popularity. On 2 February 1938 the Wafd lost the elections.

The war brought back the British whose military presence renewed feelings of hatred and desires for total independence among the Egyptian population. From February 1938 to February 1942 seven governments succeeded one another until on 4 February 1942 the British, worried about the pro-German feelings of the government, forced King Farouk manu militari to bring El-Nahhas back. He remained at the head of the government until 1945.

WITH THE WAR moving away new elections were called in 1945 and rigged to defeat the Wafd. A troubled period followed which witnessed the rise and fall of eight governments as well as two political assassinations, those of prime ministers Ahmed Maher and Mahmoud Fahmi El-Noqrachi, accused of collusion with the British and the king.

In the elections of 1950 the Wafd was back headed by El-Nahhas. In 1951 he abrogated the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty which he had signed 15 years before. "I signed it in the name of Egypt and now I abrogate it in the name of Egypt," were his famous words. But neither the British nor the king wished to see the Wafd remain in power. They were aided in their intention of getting rid of El-Nahhas by the burning down of Cairo on 26 January 1952. The government resigned the following day. A series of governments followed from 27 January to 24 July 1952, the last, headed by Ahmed Naguib Al-Hilali lasting only two days from 22 July to 24 July, when the Free Officers entered the political arena, writing a new chapter of Egyptian history.

Sources:

Abdel-Rahman El-Rafi'i, Asr Ismail, (Cairo 1932) and Al-Thawra Al-Qawmiya (Cairo, 1937);

Aleyeddin Helal, Politics and Governments in Egypt (Al-Kittab Al-Gamei, Cairo, 1977);

Afaf Lutfi Al-Sayyid Marsot, Egypt in the Reign of Mohamed Ali (Cambridge, 1984);

Jacques Berque, Egypt: Imperialism and Revolution, (Faber & Faber, 1972);

PM Holt, Egypt and the Fertile Crescent 1516-1922 (Cornell, 1966).

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A guide to post-1952 parliaments

• 1957-1958

Majlis Al-Umma (The Nation's Assembly), consisted of 350 members and sat for five years. It was the first parliament under the new Constitution of 1956, which replaced the 1923 Constitution abrogated by the 1952 Revolution.

Speaker: Abdel-Latif El-Baghdadi

• 1958-1961

To mark the birth of the United Arab Republic a joint National Assembly of 600 members - 400 Egyptians and 200 Syrian - was set up. It coincided with the new Provisional Constitution issued in 1958 which set the terms for the merger union with Syria. The parliament was abrogated when the Union collapsed in June 1961.

Speaker: Anwar El-Sadat.

• 1964-1969

The third post-revolution parliament, based on the Provisional Constitution of 1964 which set the broad outlines of a socialist oriented, one-party (Arab Socialist Union) system in Egypt.

Speaker: Anwar El-Sadat.

• 1969-1971

Elected in the aftermath of 1967 on the basis of the 1964 Constitution. During the sitting of this parliament President Nasser died and was succeeded by Sadat.

Speaker: Labib Shouqair

• 1971-1976

Majlis Al-Shaab (The People's Assembly), based on the 1971 Constitution which changed the name of the country to the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the name of the parliament to the People's Assembly. In 1976 the Arab Socialist Union was divided into three political platforms - right, left and centre - and elections were held accordingly.

Speaker: Hafiz Badawi and Sayed Marei.

• 1976-1979

The first post-1952 parliament to comprise political groupings (the 3 platforms) which, a year later (according to Law No 40 of 1977) developed into fully fledged parties - the ruling Misr Party, chaired by Sadat; Tagammu Party, chaired by Khalid Mohieddin and the Liberal Party chaired by Mustafa Kamel Mourad. This parliament was dissolved by Sadat following the signing of the peace treaty with Israel in March 1979.

Speaker: Sayed Marei and Soufi Abu Talib.

• 1979 - 1984

Sadat was assassinated in 1981, and succeeded by President Mubarak. In 1983 the parliament passed Law No 144/1983 introducing party-lists and proportional representation.

Speaker: Soufi Abu Talib.

• 1984 - 1986

The first parliament to be elected on the basis of the new proportional representation system. The only opposition party which scored the percentage required to enter parliament was the New Wafd Party which had resurfaced following a legal battle won in 1983. The Wafd won 57 out of 360 seats. Not all these seats, however, were occupied by Wafd members proper. The alliance between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Wafd allowed some Islamist cadres to run on the Wafd Party ticket. But battles over the constitutional legality of preventing independent candidates from running in the elections resulted in the dissolution of the parliament in 1986, Law No 188/1986 was issued to amend the electoral system to allow for a combination of party-lists and independents.

Speakers: Soufi Abu Talib and Kamel Leila.

• 1987 - 1990

The election of 1987 produced the biggest opposition block in any post-1952 parliament, with 90 opposition and independent members. The alliance between the Labour Party, the Liberal Party and the Muslim Brotherhood (known as the Islamic Alliance) held 60 seats, while the Wafd won 30 seats. This parliament, however, was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Constitutional Court, which ruled for a return to individual candidacy.

Speaker: Rif'at El-Mahgoub.

• 1990 - 1995

With the exception of Al-Tagammu all opposition parties boycotted the 1990 elections, which took place against the backdrop of preparations for the Gulf War.

Speaker: Ahmed Fathi Serour.

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