Archive for Wasat Party

Wasat Party head: Shafiq flew to UAE with large amount of uninspected luggage

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June 30th, 2012

Wasat Party vice president and former MP Essam Sultan has accused unnamed entities of being responsible for allowing Ahmed Shafiq, the defeated presidential candidate, to travel to the UAE carrying a cargo estimated at 7,110 kilograms without it being subject to inspection.

Sultan tweeted, “at 3:30 am, June 26, on board Etihad Airways flight 650 bound to Abu Dhabi, an Egyptian citizen flew with luggage [...] with a total weight of 7110 kg. The VIP lounge was opened for the citizen and none of his load was inspected. This citizen was Ahmed Shafiq.”

He pointed out that Hussein Salem, on the run Egyptian businessman with ties to Mubarak, traveled in the same way during the 18-day uprising in early 2011, with a similar load that included €450 million, or about LE4 billion. The prime minister at the time, incidentally, was Shafiq.

Sultan wondered, “Who was the person who allowed both of them to do so? Who ordered the VIP room opened for them? Why the UAE in particular? And who prevents customs officers from doing their work? Noting that, according to the Egyptian law, a passenger is not allowed to travel with more than LE10,000 or US$5,000.”

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Abouel Fotouh and Wasat Party consider political alliance

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June 21st, 2012

Abul Ela Mady, the leader of the moderate Wasat Party, and former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh are considering a political alliance along with other forces and parties.

Abouel Fotouh and Mady met with Wasat’s deputy leader Essam Sultan, former MP Wahid Abdel Meguid, Nahda Party founder Ibrahim al-Zafarany and Hadara Party leader Hatem Azzam on Thursday for that purpose.

Wasat Party spokesperson Amr Farouk said the meeting seeks a way out of the crisis resulting from the dissolution of Parliament and the supplementary Constitutional Declaration. He declined to comment on the new political alliance.

Edited translation from MENA

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Islamist parties to go to State Council over Parliament dissolution

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June 20th, 2012

Islamist parties have decided to file a case against the ruling military council and the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court following its decision to dissolve Parliament.

The parties argue that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and the court do not have the authority to dissolve Parliament. The State Council would hear the case.

The Freedom and Justice Party’s parliamentary bloc threatened to make the case international. The FJP executive bureau met two days ago to discuss ways to solve the problem, and met with members of other parties in Parliament to express a unified stance toward the issue.

Farid Ismail, a member of the executive bureau, said the party has different ideas for resolving the sisue.

He said the party has submitted a request to the State Council to explain the Supreme Constitutional Court’s ruling, saying it is not clear whether the entire Parliament or only a part of it should be dissolved.

Ezz Eddin Thabet, the secretary general of the Wasat Party in Assiut and a former MP, also threatened to make the case international by calling on European, Arab and other parliaments to discuss it and take appropriate action, saying Parliament was elected by the people in a free, transparent election.

He said the party is seriously examining this course of action.

The Salafi-oriented Nour Party said the court does not have the authority to dissolve Parliament, the election of which he described as one of the greatest political achievements for post-revolution Egypt.

Nour Party warned the military council in a statement Tuesday about insisting on Parliament’s dissolution, saying this would have negative repercussions on the country.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Members of Mubarak’s party reconvene to back Shafiq

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May 12th, 2012

Former notable figures of the dissolved and once ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) have been holding meetings to rally the former party’s supporters behind presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq.

Mahmoud Haddad, one of the attendees, revealed on Friday that former NDP trustees from various governorates meet in a building in Dokki that belongs to the first wife of Ahmed Ezz, the steel tycoon and former NDP secretary, to discuss ways to back Shafiq.

Shafiq, a general and former civil aviation minister, was appointed prime minister by Hosni Mubarak during the 18-day uprising last year against the latter's three-decade rule. This last-ditch attempt to appease protesters did not save Mubarak, but Shafiq hung on to his position for about three weeks after the president fell.

Haddad said in a telephone call with "Egypt in a Week" program on the privately-owned OnTV channel that NDP leaders had called to invite him and others for the meetings.

"Among those who gather the members of the dissolved National Democratic Party [to support Shafiq] are the wife of Ahmed Ezz, named Azza, Mohamed Kamal, and son of Kamal al-Shazly," he said.

Abul Ela Mady, president of the Wasat Party, said during the same TV program that he had received information confirming Haddad's report. Mady said revolutionary forces must unite to save the revolution.

It’s not clear how the support of former members of the NDP would enhance Shafiq's chances.

In the most recent poll by Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Shafiq came third after former foreign minister and Arab League chief Amr Moussa and former Muslim Brotherhood member Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh.

The NDP was dissolved by a court ruling in April 2011, as demanded by the pro-democracy uprising. The party had dominated Egyptian politics since it was founded by Anwar Sadat in 1978, and came to examplify the ruling elite's corruption and abuse of power.

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Wasat Party: Salafi sheikhs behind Abbasseya clashes

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May 5th, 2012

Wasat Party Spokesperson Tarek al-Malt has accused a group of Salafi preachers of inciting Friday’s clashes in Abbasseya. 

Malt told Al-Masry Al-Youm Saturday that the Salafi preachers who called for jihad against the ruling military council and storming the Defense Ministry should be tried for their inciendiary language.

"I reject holding the Salafi youth only responsible for the events, they are the victims of the Islamic discourse of their sheikhs, characterized by escalation and calling for confrontation,” he said. “I call for referring those sheikhs to a swift trial if found guilty in the incidents of killings and riots in Abbasseya Square.”

He said disqualified presidential hopeful Hazem Salah Abu Ismail's call for staging sit-ins in squares following his disqualification was “ a mistake that led to accusing him of orchestrating the events."

He added that even if Abu Ismail had been oppressed unjustly, like the former candidate claims, he should not have called for a sit-in, to avoid confrontations and bloodshed.

He also called on the revolutionary youth and other revolutionary movements not to clash with the military.

"Criticizing the political performance of the military council and staging demonstrations against it is one thing, and clashing with the armed forces is another,” he said. 

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Wasat MP files report requesting travel ban for Omar Suleiman

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April 15th, 2012

The head of the Wasat Party’s parliamentary bloc has filed a report to the attorney general requesting the imposition of a travel ban on Omar Suleiman.

Suleiman is accused of submitting 3,000 invalid signatures in his application to run for president, parliamentary head Essam Sultan explained to Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Sultan said Suleiman is also accused of torturing Egyptian and non-Egyptian citizens to obtain confessions for the US government, Sultan added.

Head of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights Hossam Bahgat said Suleiman was involved in supervising the extraordinary rendition program, which was run in association with the US government to torture detainees suspected of terrorist activity.

Sultan said in the report that Suleiman has talked on different occasions of possessing a black box. Sultan explained that this means Suleiman knows many secrets, and has documents, data and information collected during his 20 years in office.

The report said that “as long as the General Intelligence Services are owned by the state and the secrets that this person holds are the property of the state, they must be kept [inside the country].

“Thus, he must be banned from travel outside Egypt to keep this information from being traded or used to pressure officials.”

Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Parliament to hold extraordinary session to discuss Mubarak regime members ban

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April 10th, 2012

Parliament has decided to convene on Wednesday to discuss the draft law that was submitted by MP Essam Sultan of the Wasat Party banning all those who worked under Mubarak in the last ten years of his rule in leadership positions or the dissolved National Democratic Party from assuming the office of president, vice president or prime minister for 10 years as of Mubarak’s resignation on 11 February 2011.

Hussein Ibrahim, head of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party’s parliamentary committee, called for carefully studying the draft law in order to ensure that its constitutionality is not challenged, thereby postponing the elections.

“The Muslim Brotherhood deputies shun discussing the law so that they are not accused of paving the way for their own candidate,” said Ibrahim.

MP Amr Hamzawy requested that the law also ban them from running for Parliament or local councils, while MP Ahmed Saeed, leader of the Free Egyptians Party, feared the draft would be construed as specifically targeting a particular candidate.

For his part, MP Amr el-Shobaki feared the draft law would be a deviation from the path of democracy into a kind of discrimination.

“The draft is unconstitutional,” said Mohamed Attiya, minister of parliamentary affairs. “Only a court ruling decides this matter.”

The members of the legislative committee denied the claim by MP Ihab Ramzy that the committee had not reached a quorum when it voted on the law.

Meanwhile, six presidential hopefuls have called on Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, to endorse the law on banning former regime symbols from running in the presidential elections immediately after it is passed by Parliament.

Candidates Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh, Mohamed Selim al-Awa, Ayman Nour, Hesham al-Bastawisy, Amr Moussa and Abul Ezz al-Hariry agreed on the constitutionality of the law in a meeting on Tuesday.

They also called on the Presidential Elections Commission to examine the signatures submitted by Omar Suleiman and Ahmed Shafiq, two former regime officials, claiming that they ordered government officials and army and police personnel to collect them.

The candidates agreed to meet late April in order to work together on achieving the national goals of the revolution, but denied that they are in permanent session until the crisis of the other candidates is resolved.

Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Parliament committee approves bill outlawing Suleiman presidential candidacy

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April 9th, 2012

The People's Assembly's Proposals and Complaints Committee approved on Monday a bill amending the presidential elections law 123/2011 by adding a clause banning former regime figures from running for president, state-run Al-Ahram newspaper has reported.

The added clause had been proposed by MP Essam Sultan, vice president of the Wasat Party, during a parliamentary session on Sunday.

The approval came at the end of discussions attended by Minister of Manpower and Immigration Fathy Fekry, the newspaper said, adding that the draft was amended per the suggestion of MPs Amr Hamzawy and Mohamed al-Beltagy.  

According to the bill, those who served in leading government in the five years leading up to Mubarak's resignation are banned for ten years from running for the posts of president, vice president, prime minister and government minister. Included are those who were presidential staff, security, parliament members and ruling party officials.

The committee unanimously approved the bill after installing the changes backed by the manpower minister, especially those made to the paragraphs talking about retroactive application of the law and naming officials appointed by the deposed president.

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Wasat MP draft law would ban Mubarak-era figures from presidency

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April 8th, 2012

A Wasat Party MP has submitted a draft law to amend Presidential Elections Law 174/2005 in an effort to prevent people associated with the Mubarak regime from running in the upcoming presidential election.

Essam Sultan's bill comes on the last day the Presidential Elections Commission accepted candidacy applications.

Former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who served under ex-President Hosni Mubarak, submitted his application at the last minute.

The draft law states: “Anyone who worked during the five years preceding the departure of the former president in any political position, or as a consultant in a ministry or presidential institution, [or who was] a parliamentary representative of the [dissolved] National Democratic Party, or hired by the former president, will not be allowed to nominate himself for the presidency or to serve as the vice president, prime minister or any cabinet minister for a period of five years from the date of the referred resignation.”

The law goes on to say that all candidacy procedures would be canceled for any candidates who had nominated themselves prior to the law’s passage.

In his request to People's Assembly Speaker Saad al-Katatny, Sultan said the draft law aims to preserve the 25 January revolution.

The Wasat Party invited what it described as "patriotic presidential candidates" to a meeting on Sunday evening at its headquarters to discuss ways to face the "candidates who are former regime remnants." Presidential candidates Hamdeen Sabbahi and Abul Ezz al-Hariry immediately expressed their agreement to hold the meeting.

The upcoming presidential election, slated for 23 and 24 May, is the first of its kind since Mubarak's ouster after the 2011 January uprising.

Contenders include Suleiman, who briefly served as Mubarak's vice president; Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister before Mubarak's ouster; and Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister under the ousted president.

In November, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces issued a political isolation law that aimed to prevent political figures who contributed to the corruption of political life from running in parliamentary or local elections for five years.

Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Awa to exclude questionable signatures from nomination papers

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April 4th, 2012

Islamist presidential hopeful Mohamed Selim al-Awa will head to the Presidential Elections Commission Wednesday with the endorsement of 30 MPs after deciding to exclude the signatures collected from citizens, his campaign manager said.

Mohamed Moemen told state-run news agency MENA that Awa received the signatures from lawmakers of the Salafi-oriented Nour Party, Wasat Party, Jama’a al-Islamiya’s Construction and Development Party and a number of independents.

He said the campaign preferred to submit the minimum number of signatures even though it had collected more than required.

Moemen said the campaign chose not to submit the 30,000 citizen signatures it had gathered because of concerns previously raised over violations, such as citizens endorsing more than one candidate, and Notary Authority problems that could invalidate certain signatures.

“We decided to avoid these problems, and we decided to use only those of the People’s Assembly and Shura Council members,” Moemen said.

Awa on Wednesday had accused a “rival” of offering money for signatures in support of Awa to tarnish his reputation ahead of the presidential election.

In a phone interview on the privately owned Dream TV channel, Awa said his rival — who he refused to name — pretended to campaign for him in and around Cairo in cars with loudspeakers, allegedly offering people LE50 to sign in support of his candidacy.

Awa said he filed a report against the rival to the attorney general and the Presidential Elections Commission.

“This is an election bribe that I cannot accept. Its purpose is to smear my reputation,” he said, stressing that he didn’t ask anyone to do it and that he will not use the signatures.

Awa said he knows who was behind the bribery, but he will not announce his name until after the end of the election.

“If he wins, I will announce it. If not, I will not,” Awa said.

“There is a lot of chaos at the notary regarding official signatures of support. This is one of the shortcomings of the [Presidential Elections] Commission,” he said.

Luxor’s public prosecutor is conducting an investigation into accusations that notary employees forged signatures for another presidential hopeful, Amr Moussa.

Translated from MENA

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