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| Africa: North |
| New Parties Claim Egypt's Liberal Legacy |
| 2004-12-08 |
| With the entry of two new liberal parties onto Egypt's political scene, four of the country's 19 parties are presenting themselves as the champions of free-market economy. The Political Parties Committee of the upper house of Parliament granted legality to El-Destouri El-Igtimai (Social Constitutional) Party on Nov. 25 a month after approving El-Ghad (Tomorrow Party). The committee had previously given the green light to only two other parties since it was founded in 1977. Both parties say they are rooted in Egypt's liberal legacy that stretches back to the nationalist uprisings of 1919. In claiming that heritage, they vie directly with the Waved Party, which emerged directly out of that struggle. Heads of the new parties vehemently deny that their claims to that legacy pit them in conflict with the Wafd. "Our liberalism is that of Saad [Zaghloul] and [Mustapha] Nahas, which is monopolized by no one," said Mamdouh Qenawi, head of El-Destouri, referring to the heroes of 1919. Qenawi's comments, coming just days after his party was approved, echoed similar ones by the president of El-Ghad, Ayman Nour, who had earlier quipped that Zaghloul "isn't a trademark." |
| Posted by:Fred |