El-Ghad Party

el-Ghad Party
Hizb el-Ghad
حزب الغد
Chairperson Moussa Moustafa Moussa
Founder Ayman Nour
Slogan Hand in Hand, we build tomorrow
Founded 2004
Headquarters Cairo, Egypt
Newspaper El-Ghad
Ideology Secularism, Liberalism, Reformism, Liberal Democracy
Political position Centrism
Religion Secular
People's Assembly
0 / 508
Website
www.elghad.com
Politics of Egypt
Political parties
Elections

The el-Ghad Party (Arabic: حزب الغدḤizb el-Ghad, IPA: [ˈħezb elˈɣæd]; "The Tomorrow Party") is an active political party in Egypt that was granted license in October 2004. El-Ghad is a centrist liberal secular political party pressing for widening the scope of political participation and for a peaceful rotation of power. The party is currently represented in the upper house, the Shura Council by Moussa Moustafa Moussa.

The official El-Ghad Party, headed by Moussa Moustafa Moussa, is running the Egyptian parliamentary election, 2011–2012 as an independent list. The split faction Ghad El-Thawra Party, headed by Ayman Nour, is part of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party-led Democratic Alliance for Egypt.[1]

Contents

Background

Ayman Nour left the New Wafd Party in 2001, and established El-Ghad. The party was legalized in 2004. After facing presidentHosni Mubarak in the Egyptian presidential election, 2005, Nour was was sentenced to five years in jail on forgery charges.[1]

In 2005, just before Nour being sentenced, the El-Ghad party split in two factions. One was headed by Moussa Moustafa Moussa, the other by Nour’s (now former) wife Gamila Ismail.[1] Legal battle ensued between both factions, both claiming legitimacy and simultaneously using the party name and insignia. The final court ruling in May 2011 was in favor of Moussa.[2] Ayman Nour hence filed for a new party, Ghad El-Thawra Party or "Revolution's Tomorrow Party", which was approved on 9 October 2011.[1]

The removal of Nour from the party leadership by Moussa, and the latter's election to the Egyptian Upper House, have been seen as compliances with the Hosni Mubarak regime.[1]

Platform

The party platform calls for:

Name Confusion

Ayman Nour has been tightly associated with both the El-Ghad name and party, even being accused of internal monopoly by other party members.[3] Since both Nour and Moussa fractions were using (and still are) the same name and insignia (ex: Ghad El-Thawra website[4]), it is often difficult to tell them apart. For instance, Liberal International lists El-Ghad, specifying its leader as Ayman Nour, as an observer member.[5] Many poll and media outlets use the term "El-Ghad" without specifying which party or faction they are referring to, [6] although they often mean the Ayman Nour Ghad El-Thawra faction.[7] [8]

See also

Egypt portal
Human rights portal

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Ghad Al-Thawra Party (Hizb Ghad Al-Thawra)". jadaliyya.com. http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/3364/ghad-al-thawra-party-%28hizb-ghad-al-thawra%29. 
  2. ^ محمود حسين، "شئون الأحزاب" ترفض قبول تأسيس حزب الغد الجديد. اليوم السابع 2011-9-5. وصل لهذا المسار في 28 سبتمبر 2011.
  3. ^ "Ghad Al-Thawra Party". ahram.org. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/26694.aspx. 
  4. ^ "aymannour.net". http://aymannour.net/. 
  5. ^ Datasheet on the Liberal International's website
  6. ^ Schoen & Lane (Jul 26, 2011). "Egypt’s Simmering Rage". thedailybeast.com. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/07/26/egypt-political-poll-muslim-brotherhood-influence-troubles-for-west.html. 
  7. ^ Danish-Egyptian Dialogue Institute (DEDI). "2nd National Voter Survey in Egypt". dedi.org.eg. http://dedi.org.eg/wp-content/uploads/Voter-poll-survey.pdf. Retrieved 13 Oct 2011. 
  8. ^ Danish-Egyptian Dialogue Institute (DEDI). "3rd National Voter Survey in Egypt". dedi.org.eg. http://dedi.org.eg/wp-content/uploads/3rd-Poll-Press-Release.pdf. Retrieved 12 November 2011. 

External links