Egypt’s Party of Tomorrow
By Luke Thomas
Aug 20, 2004
ona Makram-Ebeid has been a parliamentarian, is a professor of Political Science at the American University in Cairo, currently serves as head of the Association for the Advancement of Education (AAE), consults the World Bank Middle East and North Africa region, founded the Arab Organization for Human Rights and the Egyptian Council for Foreign Relations, is a former Fulbright Scholar after attending Harvard University and with luck, will become the head of Egypt’s new party, “Hizb al-Ghad” (Party of Tomorrow).According to the Daily Star, “she calls the decision of the leadership to elect her secretary-general of Al-Ghad a ‘decision loaded in symbolism.’”So what policies does Hizb al-Ghad support?Makram-Ebeid has stated that her party stands for a “liberal agenda” of free markets, rule of law, women’s empowerment, human rights, an open relationship with the West, and freedom of expression. Their views are descendent from the old Wafd party that collapsed in the 1952 revolution of Free Officers, which ushered in Gamal Abdul Nasser and with him, Arab socialism.The Wafd party emerged in Egypt around the 1930s and even contributed toward the country’s independence. The party was known for its very liberally minded and progressive views.In fact, Makram-Ebeid is the granddaughter of Makram-Ebeid Pasha, a famous Coptic politician and former secretary-general of the Wafd party.In an interview with the Daily Star, the young Makram-Ebeid stated:
I grew up in Makram-Ebeid (Pasha)’s home where politics was part of the air you breathe. From him I learned about his and Egypt’s struggle for independence, about his exile by the British with the revered ‘father of the nation’ Saad Zaghloul, and his unfailing efforts as secretary general of the famous Wafd party to establish a parliamentary system. A modern women, both a product of “East” and “West”, Makram-Ebeid has translated her ancestry and experience into a hybrid group that seeks to revitalize Egyptian politics and give hope to the voice of the young. “Al-Ghad is eager to recapture the spirit of the old Wafd (that of reinforcing religious harmony), she said. She added “because we are in a different era, in the modern world, the symbol chosen is a woman.”Makram-Ebeid has been a pioneer of democracy and liberalism in Egypt and is still at the head of the movement. She recently served as the rapporteur of the political committee at the Alexandria Conference for Reform. The conference insisted that “the Arab world put an abrupt end to emergency rule, hold free and fair parliamentary elections, reform their constitutions, lift legal restrictions on political parties and end the trial of civilians before military tribunals,” said the Daily Star.But Al-Ghad is facing serious obstacles. In order to establish themselves as an official party, they have to be approved by Egypt’s Political Parties Committee. So far, al-Ghad’s application has been rejected twice, both times because the Political Parties Committee has said al-Ghad’s policies are too closely aligned with Social Justice Party on issues of “social justice and globalization”. This is clearly an attempt by the Egyptian government to limit any democratic competition to the existing political establishment.Members of al-Ghad are waiting for a September 25th court decision that will settle the issue of the party’s status. Makram-Ebeid is optimistic about the outcome. Al-Ghad is still a small party, having only registered 2,000 members. They hope to amass 1 million.Part of that problem is al-Ghad’s liberal agenda.First, Islamist groups still control politics. There is currently very little room for open secularists led by a female Christian in a world run by Muslim men.Second, while al-Ghad certainly has problems with “heavy-handed U.S. policy” and is no friend of the current administration, they do call for open relations with the West. As they see it, the West is too large of an issue and has too many good things, such as technological advancement, to be ignored. According to Al-Ahram, Makram-Ebeid said “we can’t defend what the U.S. is doing, nor do we want to cut ourselves off from all that is positive in the West.”Al-Ghad sees this willingness to engage the West as a means to mutual benefit and fixing perceived American wrongs in the region. Islamists largely view this as betrayal and unjustifiable relationship.Ultimately, though, al-Ghad and its’ leader believe this homegrown internal Egyptian effort will produce great results for themselves and their country:
The achievements and aspirations of Egypt’s liberal period have inspired many Egyptians and given them something to build on and to fight for…(Hizb al-Ghad) does not believe that change should be gradual, as announced by the government. The party rejects the claim that democracy would only empower Islamist extremists. On the contrary, deferring change is extremely dangerous
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