Al-Ahram Weekly Issue No. 243 19 - 25 October 1995
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

Honourable past

The Wafd has its strengths and weaknesses. A point in its favour is that it did not emerge from the government's womb like several other parties; it had its own identity from the very beginning. Another point in its favour is its honourable past, with great achievements, which gave the Wafd its legitimacy. Also, the Wafd champions lofty principles such as liberalism and democracy, and this is a worldwide trend today.

As for the negative points, Fouad Serageddin is too old to be chairman; he should leave his post to the younger generation. Also, although the party champions democracy, it does not practise it within its own ranks. But then this is true of all political parties.

The Wafd is living in the past; it even celebrates occasions which the younger generation cannot relate to. It continuously refers to the past, failing to offer solutions to present-day problems.

Another negative point is its hostility to the 1952 Revolution. It is opposed to a very crucial period that left its stamp on Egypt's history. And when the party declares opposition to the revolution, it only confuses the younger generation.

Kamal El-Menoufi
Political science professor, Cairo University

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Nostalgic living

By championing democracy and political and economic liberalism, the Wafd Party is attempting to present itself on the domestic political scene as a liberal party. The problem, however, is that the Wafd belongs to the past. They remain opposed to the 1952 Revolution although they do not seem to know what it was all about. The revolution, by introducing basic political, economic and social reforms, was living proof that the pre-1952 parties were failures. The Wafd is fighting change and attempting to survive on its erstwhile popularity.

Already in the 1940s the Wafd Party had fallen victim to internal splits, becoming a party for the feudalists and the rich, instead of a party for the masses. Consequently, the middle and working classes found no place for themselves in the party and turned to other ideologies.

Then from 1952 until 1978, nobody heard about the Wafd, which proves that it is not a party capable of fighting for itself. It made no attempt to stay alive or to struggle against the Nasser regime, which is what the communists and the Muslim Brotherhood did. The Wafd reappeared only when the political environment was congenial in 1978. But it quickly froze its activities, again showing an unwillingness to fight.

When the Wafd finally came back, its popularity had faded, partly because of the restrictions clamped on political parties and the Wafd's unwillingness to fight back. Also, by aligning itself with the Muslim Brotherhood in 1984, the Wafd showed itself as a party without principles.

We may describe the Wafd as a nostalgic party, choosing to live in the past. It does not understand that the word "Wafd" does not have the same magic it once had.

Hassan Nafaa
Political science professor, Cairo University

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Unadaptive mechanisms

The Wafd is Egypt's oldest political party. It occupied a front seat in Egyptian political from 1919 to 1952 because it championed two inter-related causes, national liberation and democracy.

At present, Egypt needs a strong party that advocates liberalism. In our time, mistaken interpretations of Islam are used by some people to block progress and democracy. The presence of a party truly committed to the cause of enlightenment could constitute a bulwark against these forces.

However, the Wafd could not revive its former leading role in Egyptian politics, not only because of the restrictions imposed on political parties, but also because of the party's failure to adapt its platform to new realities in this country.

Both national liberation and democracy are still important and fundamental issues in Egypt today, but they do not have the same meaning which they had during the era of liberation. Today, national liberation does not mean ending military occupation but standing up to international financial institutions which strive to impose on this country an economic policy which does not correspond with its needs and priorities. The new Wafd Party sympathizes with many elements of the economic policy recommended by these institutions.

Democracy means not only fair and regular parliamentary elections, but also the exercise of the freedoms of belief, conscience and expressions. The Wafd Party did not stand by those who were prosecuted for their exercise of these very freedoms, such as Taha Hussein in the 1920s and Nasr Hamed Abu-Zeid in the 1990s.

Moreover, the party has to show that the democracy it preaches is practiced within the party itself by turning out new generations of leaders. Finally, the party has failed to reach out to millions of young Egyptians who are not moved by the party's sanctification of its deceased leaders or its declared hostility to the '52 Revolution.

Mustafa El-Sayed
Political science professor, Cairo University

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