Archive for Wafd Party

Astrologer: Islamists’ parliamentary presence to shrink in next election

by admin
December 25th, 2012

LUXOR — A well-known Upper Egyptian astrologer has predicted a change in the political tide in favor of liberal political groups, at the expense of Islamists.         



Sayyed Mohamed Ali told the German news agency DPA that the number of Islamist representatives in the next People’s Assembly will decrease while liberal groups, such as the Wafd Party and the National Salvation Front, will make electoral and political gains in collaboration with revolutionary groups.



Ali even foresees President Mohamed Morsy facing serious problems, which would end with the army’s intervention to maintain order.



He said he predicts a new worldwide war in 2013 and 2014, with the Middle East as its epicenter.



Ali also said the UN Security Council will see a change in its system, working with more resistance to US double-standard policies. He, however, predicted that the international organization would move toward collapse by early 2014.



Other prophecies for 2013 include more hurricanes in the United States, a devastating earthquake in Japan, volcanic eruptions in Iran, floods in Egypt and Sudan, and a change in the Syrian regime.

 

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Sources: Police accuse four Abu Ismail supporters of Wafd Party attack

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December 19th, 2012

Four supporters of former Salafi presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail were accused by police of attacking the headquarters of the liberal Wafd Party, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported on Tuesday.

The paper quoted police sources as saying that the four suspects also managed to detain Kamal al-Daly, the head of Criminal Investigations Department in Giza, during the Saturday attack, which saw dozens of Abu Ismail's supporters, who call themselves "Hazemoun," attacking the building with birdshot and Molotov cocktails.

Daly allegedly told his aides that the four Abu Ismail supporters put a knife on his neck and told him to ask the police forces not to advance and chase them. Al-Masry Al-Youm tried to contact Daly to verify the story but could not reach him.

The four suspects were accused of attacking the Wafd Party's headquarters, attempting to murder eight people, including four policemen, and smashing 15 cars.

Abu Ismail himself has denied any links to the attacks against the Wafd Party's headquarters.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Monday’s papers: Legitimacy or fraud?

by admin
December 17th, 2012

Monday’s papers indicate that the controversial results of the referendum on the draft constitution have widened the gap between Egypt’s political forces, as opposition and human rights activists claimed that Saturday’s poll is “invalid.”

According to both state-owned and independent papers, the “yes” vote had a slight lead over the “no” side after 57 percent of voters, surprisingly, approved the draft constitution, with a second round of voting still to come.

Privately owned daily Al-Tahrir leads with a headline: “The scandals of Morsy’s referendum.” The paper states that seven rights organizations released a statement Sunday demanding that the first phase of the referendum be nullified due to the alleged irregularities that occurred during the voting process.

The statement reportedly listed a number of violations including the absence of judicial supervision, inciting violence against “yes” voters, the impersonation of judges, Copts being prevented from entering some of the polling stations and the distribution of unstamped ballots.

Independent daily Al-Shorouk writes that the National Salvation Front has echoed the statement, demanding full investigations into violations committed during polls and calling for a million-man protest on Tuesday against serious fraud in the referendum.

While the high elections commission refuses to approve the preliminary results of the referendum until the second stage takes place next week, Freedom and Justice, mouthpiece of the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm, opts for its usual victorious language, describing the referendum in a headline as a substantial move towards democracy.

The partisan paper dedicates its seventh page to accusing the National Salvation Front and independent satellite channels, including CBC, Dream, and Al-Hayat, of provoking new crises to hinder the enactment of the constitution and tarnish the images of supporters of both the Brotherhood and former Salafi presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail.

In response to the NSF’s statement, Freedom and Justice claims on the same page that the opposition is “playing its last card” in an effort to conceal its failure to mobilize citizens to vote against the draft constitution and accuses the group of organizing another conspiracy to bring chaos in the country, referring to incidences of arson at FJP offices.

On its front page, the liberal party paper Al-Wafd publishes pictures of Abu Ismail and his supporters, who allegedly took part in a fierce attack on its headquarters Saturday, burning the building’s facade and some cars in the surrounding area.

The report says that the public prosecutor is investigating the witnesses who say that more than 500 people stormed into the building carrying knives and Molotov cocktails.     

The paper raises the question of why President Mohamed Morsy is not taking a rigid stance against the “crime” of attacking the Wafd headquarters, asking, “Does silence means his acceptance?!”

Al-Sayed Al-Badawi, head of the Wafd Party, is quoted as saying in a press conference Sunday in the same paper that Al-Wafd’s journalists “are paying the cost of defending the country.” Badawi, however, assures they will not back away from their “patriotic” editorial policies.    

Independent daily Al-Sabah writes that Abu Ismail denied accusations that his ultra-conservative allies participated in breaking into the Wafd Party’s headquarters. He also described Badawi’s allegations as a manipulation meant to turn away people from the referendum.   

In his op-ed, Ibrahim Eissa, Al-Tarir’s editor-in-chief, assures that despite the Brotherhood’s narrow victory and its ongoing attempts to enact the constitution by carrying out different forms of electoral irregularities and through verbal and physical threats to anti-Morsy factions, the group “knows well that they can lie to themselves, but not to us.”

The vocal opposition writer believes that if rigged ballots were not included in the voting process and flagrant violations have not taken place, the “no” votes would have exceeded the “yes” ones.

He wraps up his article by pointing a finger at the Islamist president over the deepening rift between the different segments of society, saying, “Morsy succeeds in nothing but failure.”

Egypt’s papers:

Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt

Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size

Al-Gomhurriya: Daily, state-run

Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run

Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned

Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned

Al-Watan: Daily, privately owned

Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party

Youm7: Daily, privately owned

Al-Tahrir: Daily, privately owned

Al-Sabah: Daily, privately owned

Freedom and Justice: Daily, published by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party

Sawt al-Umma: Weekly, privately owned

Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Nasserist Party

Al-Nour: Official paper of the Salafi Nour Party
 

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Wafd Party official: Abu Ismail incited followers to attack headquarters

by admin
December 16th, 2012

Fouad Badrawy, secretary of the Wafd Party, filed a police report on Sunday accusing former presidential hopeful Hazem Salah Abu Ismail of inciting his supporters to break into the party headquarters, assaulting police and party employees, ransacking offices, and lighting it on fire.

Wafd said on Saturday that some members of the Hazemoun movement, supporters of Salafi Sheikh Abu Ismail, attacked the party headquarters using live ammunition, birdshot and sticks. The assailants smashed vehicles belonging to party members and employees of its newspaper in addition to setting the building on fire, the party said.  

Abu Ismail denied Badrawy accusations during phone calls with several television programs, threatening to sue anyone who connects his name with the incidents.

A reporter for privately-owned daily Al-Watan, Hussein Ahmed Hussein, filed a similar complaint against Abu Ismail for inciting supporters to attack him while he was covering their protest on Saturday in Lebanon Square, Mohandiseen.

Abu Ismail’s supporters were demonstrating against opposition protesters trapping Sheikh Ahmed al-Mahalawy inside Al-Qaed Ibrahim Mosque in Alexandria Friday after he had called on people to approve the constitution draft in the referendum on Saturday.  

Edited translation from MENA

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Islamists surround Wafd Party, newspaper

by admin
December 16th, 2012

Hundreds of Islamists gathered around the Wafd Party headquarters in Dokki on Saturday night, chanting loudly and using fireworks, Egypt Independent witnessed.

Shortly after, gunshots were heard and tear gas bombs were thrown in the area. Magdy Sarhan, the editor of Al-Wafd daily, told CBC satellite channel that party members were trapped inside the building.

Although the identity of the attackers was not clear, members of the Wafd Party accused Hazemoun, the followers of Salafi sheikh and former presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, of perpetrating an attack against them.

But Fouad Badrawy, secretary general of the party, denied earlier that the party received any threats. In statement to Al-Masry Al-Youm, Badrawy said that the Central Security Forces sent eight cars to secure the headquarters from potential threats. 

After the attack, CSF soldiers were deployed outside the headquarters and dispersed the protesters.

The Popular Current, former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi’s political party, reported that the Hazemoun group has been circulating a call for a gathering in Mohandiseen to besiege the headquarters of the current on Facebook.

Similarly, Muslim Brotherhood member Essam al-Erian told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the security should be held responsible for the attacks "because they have been weak in following thugs and trouble makers."

Representatives of the current added in a statement that some members received phone threats about supporters of Abu Ismail intending to invade their headquarters. They held the government responsible for any attack on them.

 

Meanwhile, Ahmad Helmy, head of general security, told Al-Hayat satellite channel that initial investigations show that the perpetrators of the attacks on the party belong to the Hazemoun group. He said that the group had initially headed to the Popular Current's headquarters, and were followed by security forces there. Then they left, heading to the Wafd Party where they were also followed by security forces. There, he added, the group started using firearms and the police fired tear gas in response. 

The privately-owned Al-Masry Al-Youm and Al-Watan newspapers have also received threats of attacks by Islamist groups, sources within both organizations said. The Hazemoun group had just ended a sit-in at the Media Production City with the aim of purging media of anti-Islamist propaganda, they said. 

 

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Islamists surround Wafd Party, newspapers

by admin
December 15th, 2012

Hundreds of Islamists gathered around the Wafd Party headquarters in Dokki on Saturday night, chanting loudly and using fireworks, Egypt Independent witnessed.

Shortly after, gunshots were heard and tear gas bombs were thrown in the area. Magdy Sarhan, the editor of Al-Wafd daily, told CBC satellite channel that party members were been trapped inside the building.

Although the identity of the attackers was not clear, members of the Wafd Party accused Hazemoun, the followers of Salafi sheikh and former presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, of perpetrating an attack against them.

But Fouad Badrawy, secretary general of the party, denied earlier that the party received any threats. In statement to Al-Masry Al-Youm, Badrawy said that the Central Security Forces sent eight cars to secure the headquarters from potential threats. 

After the apparent attack, CSF soldiers were deployed outside the headquarters and dispersed the protesters.

The Popular Current, former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi’s political party, reported that the Hazemoun group has been circulating a call for a gathering in Mohandiseen to besiege the headquarters of the current on Facebook.

Representatives of the current added in a statement that some members received phone threats about supporters of Abu Ismail intending to invade their headquarters. They held the government responsible for any attack on them.

Islamists are also apparently en route to protest outside the headquarters of the privately owned dailies Al-Watan and Al-Masry Al-Youm.

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US ambassador visits Wafd Party

by admin
December 2nd, 2012

The US ambassador to Egypt learned of the anti-Mohamed Morsy opposition’s position on the constitutional referendum scheduled for 15 December in a meeting with leaders of the liberal Wafd Party, the party’s vice president said.

Wafd Party head Al-Sayed al-Badawy told Ambassador Anne Patterson the referendum is a “catastrophe because there is no consensus on the constitution between all political forces,” vice president Ahmed Ezz al-Arab said, adding that the ambassador listened, but did not comment. “He also warned of a revolution of the hungry.”

Ezz al-Arab said in the meeting, which was also attended by party Secretary General Fouad Badrawy, party leaders explained the position of the opposition, in particular National Salvation Front — a coalition of political powers opposing Morsy’s 22 November constitutional declaration, which gave him the ability to override judicial decisions.

“Badawy told her it is a catastrophe because there is no consensus on the constitution by all political forces,” said Ezz al-Arab, adding that Patterson only listened but did not comment. “He also warned of a revolution of the hungry.”

The meeting was also attended Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, a leading party figure and former tourism minister; Hossam al-Khouly, assistant secretary general in the party; Hossam Esmat Allam, head of an informal party initiative to monitor government activities; and Samir Nour, assistant party president.

On the American side, the meeting was attended by Deputy Ambassador Marc Sievers.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Six more Constituent Assembly members resign after Morsy decree

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November 25th, 2012

 

Six more members of the Constituent Assembly withdrew from the body in the two days since President Mohamed Morsy issued a new constitutional declaration Thursday, bringing the total number of resigned original and reserve members to 29, according to the state-run Sawt al-Shaab television station.

On Sunday, Mohamed Anwar al-Sadat, president of the centrist Reform and Development Party, said he would freeze his assembly membership until the body met the demands of political forces opposed to the new constitutional decree.

Of the assembly’s 100 total members, 22 original appointees have resigned, along with seven reserve members who do not sit in the body. All of the 29 come from either secular political forces or represent Christian churches.

The assembly met Saturday with less than half of its members in attendance.

In response to the recent wave of resignations, Constituent Assembly President Hossam al-Gheriany, a prominent former judicial figure that observers say is close to the Morsy-aligned Muslim Brotherhood, urged the members to return and finish what they had started. He reminded the resigned members that they had contributed to drafting the constitution from the beginning and agreed on many of its articles.

In Sunday’s assembly session, which was also sparsely attended, Gheriany said the assembly — selected by the People’s Assembly and Shura Council — is completely independent.

“The government has not interfered with our work since we started,” he said.

In response to the Morsy declaration’s extension of the assembly’s work for two more months, Gheriany said, “We do not need the extra time, as we will finish by the declared deadline.”

“The turmoil that is taking place now will end once we have a new constitution and an elected Parliament,” he added.

But such an outcome seemed increasingly unlikely given the recent resignations. Three representatives of the liberal Ghad al-Thawra Party withdrew on Saturday, citing their exclusion from the assembly’s drafting subcommittee in addition to Morsy’s declaration.
Mohamed Abdel Alim Dawoud, an influential figure in the the liberal Wafd Party, and Farouq Guweida, a widely respected poet and intellectual, also withdrew on Saturday.

On 17 November, Bishop Paula of Tanta’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Bishop Yohana Qalta, the assistant to the Catholic patriarch of Egypt, and Safwat al-Bayadi, the head of the Anglican Communion in Egypt, all withdrew from the assembly. The Wafd Party withdrew four of its representatives on the same day.

The next day, April 6 Youth Movement leader Ahmed Maher, former Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, famous TV commentator Hamdy Qandil and former coordinator of the Freedom and Justice Party-led Democratic Alliance Wahid Abdel Meguid withdrew. They were followed by representatives of the Journalists Syndicate head council and the representative of the Farmers Syndicate, Mohamed Abdel Qader, on 20 November.

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Hundreds gathering in Tahrir to protest constitutional declaration

by admin
November 23rd, 2012

 

Hundreds of protesters flocked to Tahrir Square on Friday morning to take part in the mass protest against the constitutional declaration issued by President Mohamed Morsy late Thursday night.

Protesters blocked traffic and marched across the square. They held banners reading “Welcome revolutionaries” and chanted slogans such as, “Down with the Muslim Brotherhood.”

The entrances of Tahrir Square were closed with the placement of barriers at the Egyptian Museum, the American University in Cairo, Qasr al-Nil Street and Qasr al-Ainy Street, which was already blocked due to clashes taking place there between other protesters and security forces.

Two tents were set up in the middle of the square. Several street vendors were present.

A march has started from Mostafa Mahmoud Street in Mohandiseen to join protesters in Tahrir. The march is led by reform advocate Mohamed ElBaradei and head of Popular Current Hamdeen Sabbahi. Other marches from Dokki and Sayeda Zeinab will join protesters in Tahrir later today.

Arrangements began early morning on Friday for the protest, which was called for by several political forces during a meeting at the Wafd Party headquarters late on Thursday following Morsy’s announcement.

Political forces including the Wafd Party, Tagammu Party, Constitution Party, Democratic Egyptian Party, Free Egyptians Party and Popular Trend Party, as well as the April 6 Youth Movement, the Revolutionary Youth Union, the Free Egyptian Movement, the No to Military Trials group and the Bring them for Trial campaign have announced participation in the protest.

The demands of the protesters are many, including the annulment of the newly-declared constitutional declaration that grants the president unprecedented powers, the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, holding a national dialogue to reach consensus over standards and mechanisms of a new assembly that would include all political forces, issuing a legislation that guarantees justice for the martyrs, the dismissal of Prime Minister Hesham Qandil, forming a new revolutionary government and restructuring the Interior Ministry.

Meanwhile, Islamist forces including the Muslim Brotherhood, Jama’a al-Islamiya, and Salafi Dawah as well the Freedom and Justice Party, the Noor Party, Asala and Wasat have refused to take part in the protest in Tahrir, and confirm their support of the new constitutional declaration.

Edited translation from MENA

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Deeply frustrated with Myanmar massacres, Egypt summons ambassador

by admin
November 5th, 2012

Egypt has expressed its frustration with renewed violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, calling on authorities there to adopt decisive measures to put an end to the massacres.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Amr Roshdy told DPA that the ministry summoned Myanmar’s ambassador Sunday to inform him of Egypt’s anger over the violence. The ministry delivered a message to Myanmar authorities calling for perpetrators behind the violence to be referred to justice and to cease discrimination against Muslims of any sect.

Egyptians demonstrated outside the Myanmar Embassy in Cairo in July to protest the killing of several Muslims from the Rohingya community by Buddhists, reportedly in retribution for the rape of a Buddhist woman by a group of Rohingyas.

Al-Azhar has called for support to Rohingya Muslims. Last week, the liberal Wafd Party called for the withdrawl of the Egyptian ambassador to Myanmar.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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