The internal stakes of the 2005 elections: The struggle for influence in Egypt's National Democratic Party

Middle East Journal

Volumn 61, Issue 1, 2007, Pages 95-111

  Collombier, Virginie ^a  

^a French University of Aix en Provence   (France)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ELECTION; PARTY POLITICS; POLITICAL CHANGE; POLITICAL REFORM; POLITICAL SYSTEM;

AFRICA; EGYPT; NORTH AFRICA;

EID: 33847031290     PISSN: 00263141     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.3751/61.1.15     Document Type: Article

References (80)

1. Jason Brownlee, "Ruling Parties and Regime Persistence: Explaining Authoritarianism in the Third Wave Era," 2005, unpublished.
2. A hegemonic party - and not a single party - insofar as other political parties do exist on Egypt's political scene but as minor actors which cannot compete with the ruling NDP on an egalitarian basis. Changeover of power is indeed impossible since a hegemonic party never can be clearly challenged. For a more precise definition, see Giovanni Sartori, Parties and Party Systems: A Framework for Analysis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976), Vol. 1, p. 230.
3. The 8th annual party Congress, organized in September 2002, was devoted to promoting a new political orientation: A "New Thinking" ("Al-fikr al-jadid"), according to the official wording.
4. Samuel J. Eldersveld, Political Parties: A Behavioral Analysis (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1964), p. 1.
5. Maurice Duverger, Les Partis Politiques [The Political Parties] (Paris: Armand Colin, 1976).
6. Duverger, Les Partis Politiques, pp. 226-227.
7. At this point of our analysis, we have merely worked with clear-cut categories (new generation/old guard) almost in the same way they are used in the media and also have been taken over by the actors themselves. But that does not mean that these categories should not be questioned more precisely: On the contrary, this should constitute major points of our coming research.
8. 'Abdel Moneim Said (interview by author, January 30, 2006).
9. The year 2000 indeed seems to have consrituted a key time, for it was characterized by a certain number of young academics, men as well as women, deciding to join the party and take part in the then starting reform process.
10. For a more detailed review of the proposals formulated during the conference, see the document entitled Huquq al-muwatina wa-l-dimuqratiyya [Citizens' Rights and Democracy], accessible on the NDP website at http://www.ndp.org.eg/invitation/papers/Human.Right.pdf.
11. Hani Shukrallah, "Change or be Changed," Al-Ahram Weekly, June 9-15, 2005.
12. The 8th party Congress was thus seized as an opportunity to announce the creation of a Policies Secretariat. That committee - one among the organization's 13 others - would be composed of 200 members in charge of "elaborating projects and general policy documents for the party" and in charge of "its general program." On the party's organization and structures, see 'Amr Hachem Rabie, Al-hizb al-watani al-dimuqrati [The National Democratic Party] (Cairo, Al-Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies, 2004), as well as the NDP website.
13. For a detailed analysis of the changes that occured in 2004, see notably Chaymaa Hassabo, "Gamal Moubarak au centre du pouvoir: une succession achevée?" ["Gamal Mubarak in the Center of Power: Succession Accomplished?"] in L'Egypte dans l'année, Chronique Politique [Egypt in the Year 2004, A Political Chronicle] (Cairo: CEDEJ, 2004).
14. Gamal Mubarak, interview with a journalist from Ruz al-Yusuf. See http://www.ndp.org.eg/static_news/GamalMoubarak2nd_23-01-2006.asp.
15. In a speech delivered at the American University in Cairo in May 2003, Gamal Mubarak had thus opposed the idea of constitutional reform, while defending the emergency laws in force in Egypt and the action of security forces.
16. Omaya Abdel-Latif, "Not this time," Al-Ahram Weekly, March 31-April 6, 2006.
17. Interview accessible on http://www.cairomagazine.com/ ?module=displaystory&story_id=1090.
18. See for instance Omaya Abdel-Latif, "Too much hype," Al-Ahram Weekly, July 21-27, 2005.
19. Gamal Essam El-Din, "Democratizing the Process," Al-Ahram Weekly, July 21-27, 2005.
20. See http://www.ndp.org.eg/speaches/speach_details_ar,asp.
21. From Chaymaa Hassabo's expression (see "Moubarak sans cravate, un Moubarak démocratique?" ["Mubarak without a Tie: a Democratic Mubarak?"], Egypt in the year 2005 (Cairo: CEDEJ, March 2006).
22. For an analysis of the style of the campaign, see notably Paul Schemm, "Citizen and Leader: Evaluating the Impact of Campaign Advertising in Egypt's 2005 Presidential Race," accessible at http://www.tbsjournal.com/Schemm.html.
23. In 1999, Husni Mubarak was able to secure 92% of "yes" votes in the referendum organized to confirm his designation as President by the People's Assembly.
24. Reported in Dina Ezzat, "Speaking for the Future," Al-Ahram Weekly, September 29-October 5, 2005.
25. Sarah Ben Néfissa and 'Ala' al-Din 'Arafat, Vote et Démocratie dans l'Egypte contemporaine [Voting and Democracy in Contemporary Egypt] (Paris: IRD-Karthala, 2005);
26. Patrick Haenni, L'Ordre des Caïds: Conjurer la Dissidence urbaine au Caire [The Order of the Qa'ids: Recalling Urban Dissidence in Cairo] (Paris: Karthala-CEDEJ, 2005).
27. Abdel Moneim Said Aly, "Prelude to change: Egyptian democratization, 2005," Middle East Brief, No. 2 (January 2006), p. 4, accessible at http://www.brandeis.edu/centers/crown/publications/Mid%20East%20Brief/ Brief%202%20jan%202006.pdf.
28. On that point, see Article 67 of the party's new statutes, accessible at http://www.ndp.org.eg/Book/unit5.asp.
29. For more details, see also 'Amr Hachem Rabie, "The NDP caucuses: revision is needed," Egypt Commentary, No. 13 (Cairo: A1-Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies), May 9, 2004, accessible at http://www.ahram.org.eg/acpss/eng/ahram/2004/7/5/EGYP4.HTM.
30. Eventually, more than on policy options or a program, the final choice was made according to the criteria of which candidate would be the best able to win. On the selection process, also see the interview of 'Ali Eddin Hilal, "The Politics of selection," Al-Ahram Weekly, October 27-November 2, 2005.
31. For more details, see Gamal Essam El-Din, "Party's old guard prevails," Al-Ahram Weekly, October 20-26, 2005.
32. On the official list of candidates, there was only one Copt, Yusuf Boutros-Ghali, whereas there were three in 2000, and only five women against 11 in 2000.
33. See Omaya Abdel-Latif, "Reform without reformers," Al-Ahram Weekly, November 2-9, 2005.
34. http://www.ndp.org.eg/Parliment_Elections/Election_program_complete_3.Asp
35. Jean-Noël Ferrié, "Scénarios égyptiens après 2005: l'hypothèse d'une stratégie dominante" ["Egyptian Scenarios after 2005: Hypothesis of a Dominant Strategy"], (2006), unpublished.
36. Gamal Essam El-Din, "Reality hits hard," Al-Ahram Weekly, November 17-23, 2005.
37. Gamal Essam El-Din, "Bittersweet victory," Al-Ahram Weekly, December 8-14, 2005.
38. The new selection process indeed aimed at remedying that problem which had become obvious in 2000: NDP leaders thus had declared that members who had gone against decisions made by the party and stood as independents would be permanently excluded.
39. Dr. Mustafa El-Elwi (interview by author, February 4, 2006).
40. Though used here in the context of a hegemonic party, the assertion still remains meaningful.
41. Sartori, Parties and Party Systems, p. 49.
42. Shaden Shehab, "From A to B," Al-Ahram Weekly, December 15-21, 2005.
43. 'Abdel Moneim Said (interview by author, January 30, 2006).
44. Shaden Shehab, "From A to B."
45. Whereas that issue brought about much criticism, Muhammad Kamal made it a point to remind that, "anyway, these people were party members before" and that reintegrating them should thus not be regarded as problematic. (Interview by author, October 3, 2006).
46. Jason Brownlee, "Ruling Parties and Regime Persistence," p. 8.
47. In our case, mainly party members expecting deeper and quicker changes.
48. On that issue, one may also refer to the theory developed by Albert Hirschmann in Exit, Voice, Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations and States (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1970).
49. Brownlee, "Ruling Parties and Regime Persistence;" p. 8.
50. Recent developments, and notably the annual NDP conference which took place in September 2006, confirmed the central place acquired by these men within the government and the party, at the image of the overall importance given to economic reforms.
51. For the complete list of ministers, see the Egyptian government official website, accessible at http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/Politics/Executive/ lineup/040803000000000001.htm.
52. For more details on those appointed and announced political orientations, see notably Omar El-Hitamy, "Something old, Something new," Al-Ahram Weekly, January 10-18, 2006;
53. Niveen Wahish, "The three musketeers," Al-Ahram Weekly, January 5-11, 2006;
54. Gamal Essam El-Din, "Nazif pumps up the volume," Al-Ahram Weekly, February 2-8, 2006. Emphasis put on the need to translate the President's electoral platform into concrete action had been constantly confirmed until that point. The party's annual conference of September 2006 was titled "Al fikr al-jadid ... wa intilaqa thaniyya nahwa'l-mustaqbal" [The new thinking ... and the second leap towards the future], thus emphasizing the party leadership's genuine will to escalate reform.
55. The text of those three decisions can be found at http://www.ndp.org.eg/ ndp_news/news_detail.asp?news_id=7422 (and 7423-7424): They deal with the new composition of the General Secretariat, Safwat al-Sharif's appointment as General Secretary, and the appointment of Bureau members of the General Secretariat.
56. The General Secretariat was transformed from a 25 member structure into a 29 member structure. Four seats were thus created, which were given to newcomers, and at the same time seven other new members came to replace former ones. New changes in the General Secretariat's composition occurred in September 2006 during the party annual conference, but no big change was in fact witnessed. The main novelties indeed consisted in the creation of two new secretariats: A Secretariat for External Relations (Amanat al-'alaqat al-khraijiyya) which was given to Dr. Muhammad 'Abdellah and a Secretariat for Local Popular Councils (Amanat al-majalis as-sh'abiyya al-mahaliyya), given to Muhammad 'Abd al-Muhsin.
57. For more details on appointments to the General Secretariat that occurred in February 2006, see Al-Abram, February 6, 2006, p. 3.
58. See for instance Gamal Essam El-Din, "Old guard surrounded," Al-Ahram Weekly, February 9-15, 2006.
59. Gamal Essam El-Din, "Cracks in the NDP," Al-Ahram Weekly, Match 9-15, 2006.
60. For example, Hasanin Karum, "Al-ghazali harb yuhajimu Gamal Mubarak ba'd istiqalatihi min al-hizb al-hakim," ["Ghazali Harb Attacks Gamal Mubarak After his Dismissal from the Ruling Party"] Al-Quds al-'Arabi, Match 15, 2006;
61. Issander El Amrani, "The price of resignation," in The Arabist, accessible at http://arabist.net/archives/2006/04/03/ the-price-of-resignation/.
62. Gamal Essam El-Din, "Cracks in the NDP."
63. For instance Hala Mustafa. See Amira Howeidy, "I fear for Egypt," Al-Ahram Weekly, March 16-22, 2006.
64. In the course of February 2006, journalists, editors, and analysts engaged in extensive discussions over that issue and exchanged arguments about what the actual extent of the Secretariat's power was. In order to have a general idea of these debates, see for instance Dr. 'Abdel Moneim Said, "A lam naqala likum 'an haqiqat lajna as-siyasat," ["Have We Not Delivered the Truth on the Political Committee?"] Al-Ahram, January 30, 2006, p. 27;
65. Dr. Hassan Nafaa, "'Fankush', 'Adil Imam wa fankush' al-hizb al-watani," ["'Fankush': 'Adil Imam and the 'Fankush' of the National Party"] [in which "Fankush" is a word from a film by 'Adil Imam referring to something nonexistent] Al-Misri al-Yawm, February 5, 2006, p. 13. Asked about the actual role and influence of the Policies Secretariat, Dr. Muhammad Kamal mainly described the Secretariat as being in charge of elaborating and formulating policies for the government to implement (Dr. Muhammad Kamal, interview by author, September 26, 2006).
66. 'Abdel Moneim Said, (interview by author, February 4, 2006).
67. The list of new Secretaries at the govenorates level is available at http://www.ndp.org.eg/ameen_gov/all_details.asp.
68. The party is structured as follows: At the very lowest level one finds the party unit (qism), which is made of around 200 members; then, every 30 or 40 units, one finds the district (markaz); every 20 or 30 districts one finds the govenorate (muhafaza); the governorate works in close relation with the General Secretariat (Amanat 'amma).
69. Most newly nominated leaders are generally younger and more educated than their predecessors. For instance, the majority of new Secretaries in charge of training (who have the title of Amin at-tadrib) now have PhDs.
70. Choices were indeed made without resorting to any kind of internal elections: Each local structure submitted three or four candidates from among whom the General Secretariat had to choose one. Party leaders in charge of this selection process however insisted on the enormous amount of time and energy deployed in consultations during several months and on the huge work that was accomplished in order to evaluate candidates and choose between them (notably Dr. Alia al-Madi, phone interview by author, October 4, 2006).
71. Interview by author with a member of the Majlis al-shura, October 4, 2006.
72. Here, his status as the President's son may turn out to constitute an asset - because of the privileges that are linked to it - as much as a problem, mainly in the eyes of the media or the general public.
73. Dr. Mustafa El-Elwi, interview by author, February 4, 2006.
74. http://www.ndp.org.eg/one_day_conf/details_2.asp?news_id=7729.
75. Dr. Muhammad Kamal, interview by author, September 27, 2006.
76. See for instance Dina Ezzat, "Focus on Upper Egypt," Al-Ahram Weekly, Match 22-29, 2006.
77. Schmitter O'Donnell, Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Prospects for Democracy (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1986);
78. Adam Przeworski, Democracy and the Market: Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991);
79. Higley Gunther, Elites and Democratic Consolidation in Latin America and Southern Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992).
80. Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan, The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes: Crisis, Breakdown and Reequilibration (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University, 1978).