An American student witnesses the internal democracy of Al-Ghad party.

Two days ago, internal elections on the 4 seats of deputies in the Alexandria chapter of al-Ghad liberal party were as competitive as you may imagine. Sallie, an American student working on her thesis in Egypt, was there during the vote counting and subsequent celebrated declaration of results. She wrote the following post on her blog. We publish it after her permission:

A Day with Ayman Nour and al-Ghad

Ayman Nour walking to the al-Ghad party headquarters in Alexandria

Yesterday I found myself smack in the middle of Egyptian politics.
After a last-minute invitation from a new friend, I hopped on a mini-bus at 9am for the three-hour trip from Cairo to Alexandria. Thankfully the trip was completely uneventful, and the bus was even air-conditioned. Around 1pm we found ourselves sitting at a beach-front cafe sipping fresh juices (strawberry for me, guava for her) and reveling in the clean air and smell of the sea. We took a long stroll down the corniche (the road which runs along the water) and found ourselves outside Ayman Nour’s apartment at quarter to three – 15 minutes early! (Apparently neither of us have gotten back on Egyptian time yet.)

(Quick background: Ayman Nour is a well-known figurehead of opposition politics in Egypt. Formerly a member of the Wafd party, Nour left to form al-Ghad (Tomorrow) party in 2004. Al-Ghad was officially licensed just in time for Nour to run for President in 2005, Egypt’s first multi-candidate presidential elections since Nasser’s revolution in 1952. Nour came in second to president Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power since 1981. Officially Nour received 8% of the vote, but there is speculation that the actual percentage was much higher. Following the election Nour was convicted on forgery charges largely recognized as politically motivated and spent nearly four years in prison. He was released in February of 2009.)

We relaxed in the living room for a while, and eventually the five of us – myself, my friend, Nour, his secretary in Alexandria, and another Ghad party member – left for lunch. Nour nodded out the window to a guard station as we piled into the car. The four men at the station were watching us, and while three of them didn’t seem particularly concerned the fourth was looking between us and his phone. He was letting his superior know we were leaving the house, Nour said.

Anyone who argues that Nour’s popularity has fallen since his release from prison last year (and multiple tabloid-esque stories in the media) has not seen him in public. From the moment we entered the mall, where we stopped for lunch with other al-Ghad members, the flow of people stopping to speak with Nour, shake his hand, or take a picture with him did not abate until we got back in the car to go home at the end of the night. Men and women young and old approached him, all with smiles and handshakes and waiting cameras.

Eventually we made our way to the al-Ghad party headquarters for the Alexandria chapter. It was election day at the party – there were two issues on the ballot, and a petition as well. The first issue on the ballot was the deputy election (4 available seats, 5 candidates). The other, a referendum to confirm the party’s nomination of Ayman Nour as presidential candidate. The office, the entranceway, and the street outside were full of people milling about, speaking animatedly, talking on their phones, and vying for a moment with Nour.

Eventually my friend and I made our way inside, where there was just as much commotion. People coming to vote, and to sign their names next to their thumb-print on the petition. The petition is for a constitutional amendment to change the current electoral law, an issue supported by figures from Nour to Mohamed el-Baradei, the Egyptian former head of the IAEA. The ruling NDP party, however, has stated that it does not intend to propose constitutional amendments before the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Signing the petition

Yet al-Ghad is determined to prove that change is possible. According to Mohamed el-Wasemy, the Vice-President of the Executive Office for al-Ghad in Alexandria, the party’s internal elections are a lesson for both the party and the Egyptian people at large. The ballot counting was something that probably none of us have ever seen before. The ballot boxes are made of glass, a visual reminder of al-Ghad’s commitment to transparency. The ballots were counted out loud in front of a crowd of more than 60 people, the tallies marked on a board at the front of the room. During Friday night’s tally, every time the marker made a mistake and marked a tally for the wrong candidate, a dozen voices instantly called out and the error was immediately corrected. Each party member seated or standing in the room was watching carefully.

El-Wasemy called the elections a message to Egyptians. “A free election is not impossible to achieve,” he said.

“Political activism is the best way to bring about change in Egypt,” said Mohamed, a member of al-Ghad’s youth chapter, echoing el-Wasemy’s sentiments in an interview earlier in the day. Mohamed is a fairly new member of al-Ghad and sees the party as the only challenge to the regime. Neither the Reform and Development party or the Karama party have received official licenses, and Mohamed said that much of the other supposed opposition in the country has been created by the regime to play the part of opposition without actually being such.

Whether al-Ghad offers real opposition to the ruling NDP or not, the Tomorrow party faces many obstacles in its battle for change. Mohamed pointed to the broken lock and handle on the door of the room we were in. “Obviously we have no funding,” he said. Yet, despite the challenges, many in the party were hopeful as they gathered in the street following the election results.

“Say to me, mabrouk!” called out one of the newly elected deputies. I laughed and said to him, “Mabrouk!” Another new deputy echoed, “And me, and me!” Mabrouk – congratulations.

As the evening drew to a close, the crowd gathered on the street and slowly dispersed. Someone brought cake, and as we stood around talking a young member who spoke a little English walked over. “We call Obama the American Tutankahman,” he said. “We like Obama.” Why? I asked. “Some people love Obama because his father was Muslim,” he said. “But for me, his vision and charisma.”

After talk of el-Baradei (the headquarters of his National Association for Change in Alexandria is located in al-Ghad’s offices), corporate scandal, and a shocked exclamation of, “What is this language?!” as someone tried to decipher my notes, it was time to head back to Cairo. This time, my friend and I caught a ride with a party member back to the city. It was 11:30pm, and past 2am by the time we arrived back in Cairo.

An eventful eighteen hours, to be sure. I wonder what is next?

Nour surrounded by party members

Sallie Pisch

Alexandria, March 13th, 2010

Nour plans to run for president

By Amr Emam
Saturday, January 30, 2010

Opposition activist Ayman Nour announced yesterday his desire to run for president in Egypt’s next presidential polls, downplaying the effect of what he called the “legal stumbling blocks” the Government allegedly puts on the opposition’s way to presidency.

---

Nour said he felt obliged to run in the next elections, which are slated for 2011, so that Egypt could be “put” on track yet again.
“It’s necessary for everyone of us to act now to rescue the future of this country,” Nour said.

“Egypt’s future is in danger and a quick action is required if this country is to continue to hold,” he told The Gazette in an interview.

Nour, the founder of the opposition el-Ghad (Tomorrow) Party, called for the formation of a new constitution and a transitional cabinet to be headed by former International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed el-Baradie to prepare Egypt for what he called “fair” elections.

Nour came a distant second to Egypt’s incumbent President Hosni Mubarak in the country’s first contested presidential elections in 2005.

Some people say, Nour, who was previously convicted and sent to five years in jail for fabricating party documents, has many legal hindrances ahead if he wants to run for president.

He, however, says he had loaded his guns with the necessary legal arguments and documents to sort this legal problem out.

“If my party chooses to field me as a candidate in the elections, I would seek ways to find a solution to this problem,” Nour said.

“My party would ratchet up the necessary internal and external pressure to make this possible,” he added, without elaboration.

Members from Nour’s party are due to meet on Friday to agree whether they will pick him as
the party‘s presidential candidate.

Despite this, he has already started his campaign by touring more than 20 Egyptian cities to meet ordinary citizens and talk to them about his programme.

Nour, in his mid forties and a lawyer by profession, says he had found support everywhere he went, making him encouraged even more to run for president.

Mubarak, who has been ni power swince 1981, has not said yet wheite he will run for a 6th six-year term in office.

But in a recent interview with the Police Magazine, the President said he would welcome candidates who would “serve” the people.

Heartened by this, Nour is optimistic about his prospects in the elections. “I found support everywhere and this gives me hope,” Nour said.

“People’s feelings to my campaign are more than encouraging,” he added.

EGYPT: Opposition forms anti-succession coalition

Opposition leaders and political parties have started a new front to challenge the prospect that President Hosni Mubarak's son, Gamal, an untested politician with limited domestic and international experience, will succeed in the 2011 elections.

Talk of succession has gripped the country in recent months as Gamal Mubarak's profile has risen, including a trip to Washington with his 81-year-old father. Gamal is an influential voice in the ruling National Democratic Party. But many Egyptians, who have suffered under the government's economic programs and repressive human rights policies, don't want the presidency kept in the Mubarak family.

The new front took the name "Mayehkomsh" -- Egyptian slang for "You don’t have the right to rule" -- as its slogan. The question, however, remains: How can a disparate group of opposition parties successfully come together to challenge a police state that has pressured them for years with intimidation and arrests?

The anti-succession coalition, initiated by former presidential candidate and founder of El Ghad party, Ayman Nour, gained momentum in a conference held Wednesday among representatives from the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian Movement for Change (Kefaya), the Democratic Front, the Egyptian Communist party, and the Justice and Development party.

"This is a campaign to confront this irregular and illogical state, where a president-in-waiting is practicing all the duties of the president already," Nour said at the conference. "Our constitution is for a republic, not a kingdom," he said.

Hassan Nafee, a professor of political science at Cairo University, was chosen to be general coordinator of the campaign. "Fighting the succession is only part of a bigger project targeting the establishment of a democratic ruling system," Nafee said.

Nour, who was runner-up to Hosni Mubarak in Egypt's first contested elections, in 2005, received a five-year imprisonment in December of that year after the government accused him of forging signatures in order to establish his party. He was released on health grounds in February this year and has been strongly calling for democratic reforms and fighting succession plans. He can't run in the next elections because of his earlier conviction.

-- Amro Hassan in Cairo

Photo: Ayman Nour during the conference. Credit: AFP

Ayman Nour is a brave man, and as a democrat and opposition leader in Egypt he needs to be

National Review, June 22, 2009

Ayman Nour is a brave man, and as a democrat and opposition leader in Egypt he needs to be. A lawyer, and the founder and head of the al-Ghad (Tomorrow) party, he ran in the 2005 election against Hosni Mubarak, who has been running Egypt by emergency decree for over 20 years. In the circumstances, Nour's bid was hardly more than a symbolic gesture, but Mubarak made sure to send him to prison for four years.

Released this February, Nour has petitioned Mubarak to lift restrictions on his civil and political rights. Then he declared that he would run for president again in 2011. The very next day, someone on a motorbike rode up to him in the street, identified him by name, and fired an improvised flame-thrower. Nour's forehead, the side of his face, and much of his hair were burned. The attack was probably timed to coincide with President Obama's much-heralded June visit to Cairo. "In an authoritarian regime like ours you cannot know the reasons why things like this happen," says Nour, giving proof that his courage has not been even lightly singed.

Egypt's Ayman Nour claims attack, suffers facial burns

Egypt opposition leader Ayman Nour firebombed

Ayman Nour was attacked Friday evening on his way to a Ghad party meeting

CAIRO (Marwa Awad)

Egypt’s leading opposition figure Ayman Nour survived a bomb attack late Friday in front of his home a day after he vowed to run for elections in 2011.

Nour, one of Egypt’s best known political dissidents, was admitted to a Cairo hospital late Friday for first degree facial burns after a motorcyclist firebombed his car.

The attack took place 300 meters (984 feet) outside of Nour's home in the upper-class neighborhood of Zamalek. A youth in his late teens rode up to Nour, who had his car window rolled down, and sprayed flammable liquid in his face and lit a fire simultaneously.

“I had my window rolled down and he came up to me within a distance of one meter. He sprayed a liquid that ignited into a ball of fire that covered my face and head and I was immediately rushed to the hospital,” Nour told Al Arabiya in his first comments since the accident and declined to disclose the name of hospital he where he is being treated.

His driver was unhurt and immediately took Nour to the hospital. Nour said he suffered first degree burns on half his face and 20 percent of his hair. Doctors told him they expect to release him within two weeks with the possibility of minor plastic surgery. “We are in the process of filing a statement of criminal assault to the Abdel Maguid Mahmud the Attorney General to initiate an investigation into this crime,” Ehaab al-Khoury, head of the Ghad Party, told Al Arabiya. “We will also issue an official statement condemning such an act and demanding justice.” Osama Abdel Menem, attorney with al-Ghad party told Al Arabiya he will file the criminal assault report Sunday. Nour did not know who his attackers were, but said he believed the attack was in response to a speech he gave Thursday in Port Said announcing his resolve to run for the presidency for a second time in 2011. However managers at Alfa market and Hardee's in Zamalek, two businesses located near the alleged attack, were unaware of any incidents around that time. Zamalek police said no report of criminal assault was filed by Nour or the Ghad party on Friday.

" I had my window rolled down and he came up to me within a distance of one meter. He sprayed a liquid that ignited into a ball of fire that covered my face and " Ayman Nur, Ghad Party founder Nour, a 44-year-old diabetic, formed a political party and mounted an unprecedented challenge against veteran President Hosni Mubarak during the 2005 presidential election, coming a distant second. He was then imprisoned on charges of forging signature to found his party, which his supporters believe were trumped up, and sentenced to five years in prison. He was released in February. “There are many who could have done this criminal act, especially after my visit to the city of Port Said and the speech I gave there,” Nour said, adding that he remains resolved to carry on with his political activities and “will not succumb to any obstacles.” Nour called the attack “unfair play outside of all norms of decency and legitimacy,” maintaining that ever since his release in February of this year, he has been periodically assailed in ways that sought to damage his political and social standing and hinder any progress on his political reform efforts. “A series of distractions and obstacles were set in my path since my release. Attempts on my life of this illegitimate sort outside of the political arena try to disable the party’s development and progress,” Nour explained.

Ayman Nour and Gamila Ismail undone

Ayman Nour and Gamila Ismail undone

CAIRO: Egypt's best known political couple — opposition leader Ayman Nour and his activist wife Gamil Ismail — seem to be falling apart after 20 years of marriage, creating a buzz in the country's media and political circles.

Nour, who challenged Egypt's longtime president in 2005 elections, was imprisoned soon after. His wife and political partner Ismail, confirmed in an interview published Thursday that she had separated from Nour as a step toward divorce.

"The reasons for the separation have been always there but took different shapes," she told Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper. She said the official divorce "has not happened yet" but she said the decision to separate was "final." She refused to discuss the reasons.

Word of the separation comes less than two months after Nour was released from prison, several months short of his five-year sentence. He was convicted on charges of forgery, which he had said were trumped up to remove him from politics after his challenge to President Hosni Mubarak.

Ismail had stood by her husband throughout his trial and imprisonment and rallied local and international support for his release with demonstrations and media appearances. She met with former US President George W. Bush asking him to intervene to the Egyptian authorities.

She was also seen as his political right hand. Ismail had a prominent role in Nour's liberal Ghad Party and waged a leadership battle with a pro-government faction of the party. The divisions turned violent when the rival faction clashed with Ismail's supporters at the party headquarters, which was burned.

Nour, who is in his mid-40s, is now trying to rebuild Ghad, though he is banned from running for office because of his conviction. Some have speculated Ismail would run in his place in the 2011 presidential elections.

When rumors of divorce first emerged earlier this week, Nour vehemently denied it. He told Egypt's Mehwar TV on Tuesday that Ismail was "exhausted" and "needs time off." Neither could she be reached for comment. The couple have two sons.

When asked if separation will affect Nour's political future, Ismail told the newspaper, "This is not true and I don't want to think about it that way because it puts me under heavy pressure." –AP

BBC News - Egypt election row sparks protest

Egypt election row sparks protest

Mr Nour has called for the election to be repeated

Up to 2,000 people took to the streets of the Egyptian capital Cairo on Saturday in a protest over President Hosni Mubarak's re-election.

President Mubarak, in power for 24 years, won with 88.6% of the votes - in an election marked by low turnout.

Shouting "Hosni rigged the elections", they marched alongside Ghad party leader Ayman Nour.

Mr Nour and Wafd party leader Numan Gumaa - who got 7.6% and 2.9% of the vote respectively - dismissed the vote.

Complaints rejected

Police escorted the protesters but did not try to disperse them.

A small group of Mubarak supporters tried to stage a counter-demonstration, but police kept the two groups separate.

Members of the Kefaya (Enough) protest movement and the left-leaning Tagammu Party also marched with Mr Nour through the Cairo streets.

Egypt's electoral commission has rejected the candidates' complaints of a fraudulent result. It has also turned down Mr Nour's request for a re-run.

But groups monitoring the vote said there were widespread abuses, mainly by Mr Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP) and electoral officials.

However they say this would not have affected the overall result.

Ghad (Tomorrow) has insisted Mr Nour took at least 30% of the vote.

A Ghad spokesman said many of Mr Nour's supporters had been prevented from entering polling stations to vote.

Voters 'apathetic'

Mr Nour told the Associated Press news agency: "This is a farce. I will appeal to get our rights back."

However, other opposition figures said that while there had been flaws, the election had been more positive than expected.

Mr Mubarak, who previously had been elected only in single-candidate referendums, changed the system this year under pressure from the US and domestic political groups.

A win for Hosni Mubarak was widely predicted all along

BBC Middle East correspondent Ian Pannell says the main problem for reformers is not the reports of fraud but rather that the vast majority of people chose to stay at home - turnout was just 23%.

Many were apathetic, or sceptical that this election would be any different to those held previously, he says, adding that there is little in the final result to persuade them otherwise.

Although Washington has welcomed the election, its reception in the Arab world has been more muted, our correspondent adds, reflecting a deep reservoir of caution about change.

BBC Cairo correspondent Heba Saleh says many in Egypt will be disappointed the opposition did not do better because it would have signalled the possibility of a more vibrant political life and speedier democratic transformation.

BBC News - 'Travel ban' on Egypt party chief

'Travel ban' on Egypt party chief

Nour was one of Rice's most honoured guests on Monday

Egyptian police have prevented opposition politician Ayman Nour from leaving the country to speak at the European Parliament, he says.

Mr Nour is due to stand trial next month for forging signatures on his party's registration documents.

The young lawyer called his treatment "unconstitutional". He says the charges against him are politically motivated.

On Monday, he was one of a number of opposition activists who met US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

He was on his way to Strasbourg to address the parliament when he says he was stopped at Cairo's international airport.

"This is unconstitutional and it is politically motivated," Mr Nour told the Associated Press news agency.

Presidential challenge

Mr Nour will stand trial next week in a criminal court along with six other defendants from his al-Ghad (Tomorrow) party.

He says he hopes to stand against President Hosni Mubarak in country's first multi-candidate presidential elections due in September.

Mr Nour was released on bail on 12 March after six weeks in prison over the alleged forgery case. His detention without charge raised concern in Washington, which called for his release.

If he is convicted he would be disqualified from the presidential race.

On her recent visit Ms Rice criticised Cairo for cracking down on dissenters and called on it to ensure the upcoming election was free and fair. Among her talks with opposition figures on Monday, she held a 45-minute meeting with Mr Nour.

Watson calls on Egypt to release Ayman Nour

11.21.14am GMT Tue 1st Feb 2005

On hearing of the arrest yesterday of Ayman Nour, member of the Egyptian parliament and leader of the liberal opposition party al-Ghad ("Tomorrow"), Graham Watson, leader of the European Liberal Democrat Group in the European Parliament called upon President Mubarak and the Egyptian authorities to respect both the letter and the spirit of the EU-Mediterranean Agreement.

"2005 marks the 10th anniversary of the Barcelona process and represents an opportunity for a new stimulus to EU-Mediterranean relations. This kind of politically-motivated arrest of the leader of the only real opposition movement in a country dominated by a single ruling party sends all the wrong signals - that Egypt still has far to go on the road to democracy," he said.

"Political legitimacy derives precisely from a free choice of the electorate from a range of political viewpoints and not from imposing one view on everyone. Approaching the end of his fourth term of office, Mubarak should seize the opportunity of going down in history for supporting constitutional reform and a multi-party democracy. The EU should not stand idly by in the face of blatant disregard for the rule of law in its relations with privileged partner states. If Ayman Nour is not released promptly, collective EU action should be considered. Parliament should address this matter in its next 'urgency debate' on Human Rights on the 24th February if the matter has not been resolved, " Mr. Watson added.

Al Ahram weekly : Tomorrow's party today

Tomorrow's party today

With an official licence finally in hand, the new Al-Ghad Party will be electing its chairman tomorrow. Mona El-Nahhas reports on the party's struggle for legitimacy and interviews its founder, Ayman Nour




Nour and Al-Ghad Party members during the press conference at Beit Al- Umma

The Political Parties Committee, an affiliate of the Shura Council, approved the formation of Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) Party last week, bringing the number of political parties in Egypt to 18.

Since its formation in 1977, the committee -- which is authorised to give licences to new parties -- has turned down such requests 63 times. Prior to Al-Ghad, only two applicants -- Al-Wefaq Al-Watani (National Accord) Party in 2000, and Al-Geel Al-Democrati (Democratic Generation) Party in 2001 -- have broken that mould.

Al-Ghad Party's approval was announced in a very brief statement issued after a short meeting of committee members on 27 October. The statement did not explain the approval, which observers found odd, considering that Al- Ghad's application had been rejected thrice before on the grounds that its platform was not fundamentally different from that of any currently existing party.

Following each rejection, 40-year-old MP Ayman Nour -- who represents the party's 5,200 founders -- attempted to amend the party's platform, which now weighs in at 2000 pages.

Nour said the decision was "a significant boost for democracy and pluralism in Egypt". He expressed hope that two other frequent applicants -- Al-Karama and Al- Wasat parties -- would also obtain official authorisation in the near future. Al-Karama Party was rejected on the grounds that "it advocates a radical ideology", while Al- Wasat Party was denied a licence for its alleged links to the banned Muslim Brotherhood group.

A statement from the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) welcomed the government's decision to licence Al-Ghad. At the same time, the EOHR called for the parties committee to be abolished altogether, arguing that since the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) controls the committee, it could only constitute an obstacle to unfettered political life.

Some political analysts have interpreted the granting of a licence to Nour's party as a governmental stab at the liberal Wafd Party, which has recently stepped up its criticism of the NDP.

"The government does not want strong parties," said Cairo University political science professor Hassan Nafaa, who thinks the government might be counterbalancing the Wafd Party with Al-Ghad. "The Wafd will be preoccupied by its new competitor, which will attempt to attract a large number of Wafdists into its ranks. As a logical result, the two parties' attention will be distracted from serious political issues into infantile struggles. And the government will emerge as the winner."

Shura Council Speaker Safwat El-Sherif, who serves as chairman of the political parties committee, dismissed allegations of political manoeuvring. The committee's decisions, he said, "are completely void of personal whims, providing licences to parties that have proven to have unique platforms".

Wafd Party Chairman Noman Gomaa chose not to comment on the approval.

Nour, a former Wafdist, insisted that his party was not out to battle the Wafd, even though 25 per cent of the latter's members have recently joined the new party. At the same time, Nour chose Beit Al-Umma -- the historic residence of the leader of the 1919 anti-colonial revolution and founder of the Wafd Party, Saad Zaghlul (1858-1927) -- to host the press conference announcing Al-Ghad Party's inauguration.

During last Thursday's press conference, Nour said, "Zaghlul is neither owned by, nor serves as a trademark of the Wafd Party."

Nour was dismissed from the Wafd Party in 2001, after Gomaa accused him of attempting to split the party by leading a dissident faction. Following his dismissal, Nour -- who already held a parliamentary seat representing the Wafd -- turned independent.

The new party's mouthpiece -- a daily newspaper -- will be launched in January 2005.

Al-Ghad's first general congress, meanwhile, is set to take place tomorrow. Party founders will elect the chairman and 46 members of the party's higher committee. Nominations were submitted between Sunday and Tuesday.

The elections will take place at the international conference centre in Nasr City, and results will be announced on Friday evening. Until then, the party will continue to be led by Nour.

The party already includes six independent members of parliament, which would appear to automatically make it the leader of the opposition front at the People's Assembly, whose next session begins 11 November.

That role, however, is still up in the air since People's Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour has suggested that Al-Ghad would not be recognised as a parliamentary bloc before 2005, when new parliamentary elections will be held. Nour's argument is that the six independent MPs who now belong to the party should be reclassified as Al-Ghad Party MPs, to be headed by MP Abdel-Moneim El-Tunisi.

The party first submitted its platform to the Political Parties committee in July 2003. When the committee rejected it on the grounds that it was similar to those of the existing parties, Nour contested the decision at the Political Parties Court, an affiliate of the Supreme Administrative Court that is authorised to hear appeals relating to political parties.

After several hearings, a final verdict was scheduled for May. The ruling was then delayed until 25 September. When three of the eight public figures on the court (all of whom are members of the NDP) failed to attend, the ruling was delayed again. Another deliberate absence of five of the public figures caused a third postponement of the verdict, this time until 6 November.

Besides court appeals, Nour also re-submitted the party's application to the Political Parties Committee three times, using a legal loophole that allows party founders to file successive requests using a different name for the party each time, as long as amendments to the party's platform are introduced. Following the party's authorisation, Nour announced that all legal cases that had previously been filed would be dropped.

Al-Ghad calls for democratic reform, with an emphasis on secularism and promoting the empowerment of women, who constitute 37 per cent of the party's founders. Al-Ghad is also the only Egyptian political party in which a woman, Mona Makram Ebeid, holds the post of party secretary- seneral.

The party's main concern, as voiced by its founders, is combating poverty and solving the average citizen's problems. Its platform gives priority to domestic issues, paying far less attention to regional and international affairs.

Al-Ghad's agenda for political reform is summed up by the new constitution it has drafted to replace the one currently in use. The party aims to obtain one million signatures in support of its draft constitution, after which they plan to put it before parliament.

Al-Ghad's draft constitution abolishes the system of presidential referendum, in which the People's Assembly nominates a single candidate for a popular referendum.

No less significantly, Al-Ghad's draft constitution opts for a parliamentary rather than a presidential system, wherein the government is formed by the party with a parliamentary majority and executive power rests with the prime minister, rather than the president. Under the parliamentary system, the president's powers are largely symbolic.

Reform starts at home

Ayman Nour, founder of Al-Ghad Party, was born in Mansoura in the Daqahliya governorate in 1964. Nour graduated from Mansoura University's faculty of law in 1985, and went on to obtain a masters degree in the philosophy of political history as well as a PhD in international law.

He had begun working as a journalist for the liberal Wafd Party newspaper, Al- Wafd, in 1984, and eventually rose up in the party's ranks to become an elected member of the Wafd's Higher Committee.

In 1995, Nour ran for and won a parliamentary seat representing Cairo's Bab Al- Sha'riya district. In 2000, he was re-elected.

In March 2001, after the death of longtime Wafd leader Fouad Serageddin, Nour was dismissed from the party after clashing with its new chairman, Noaman Gomaa.

How do you explain the Political Parties Committee's approval of Al-Ghad Party?

I think that the committee had no choice but to approve the party's foundation. We were certain to get a court ruling in our favour, so the committee found it better for the approval to come willingly from within rather than be imposed on them by a court ruling.

Some have said the approval is a stab at the Wafd Party, which has recently stepped up its criticism of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). Would you agree?

I don't think this is true, since the tone of our criticism is just as harsh as that used by the Wafd.

Before getting the licence, we were very harsh in our criticism of the government, via the dozens of inquiries we submitted at the People's Assembly [on important matters].

I want to make it clear that we will never be an alternative for the Wafd. If we aim to replace any of the existing parties, it will be the NDP.

Would you provide us with a summary of the party's priorities?

First, we will focus on widening the party's membership by meeting with people everywhere. We will also prepare ourselves for the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for late 2005, when we hope to win numerous seats.

You have repeatedly described Al-Ghad as being a unique party. In your opinion, what distinguishes it from currently existing parties?

Al-Ghad is a party for the younger generation, since nearly 64 per cent of its members are under 45.

As a youthful party, its ideological perspectives and mechanisms will be different, inspiring a boost to Egyptian political life. We are also the only party with a large number of founding members, something that reflects an ability to interact with the public.

And finally, we have a new liberal ideology, which takes the social dimension into account, and provides solutions for poorer classes.

How do you think Egypt can go about achieving a comprehensive reform programme?

Political reform is the basis of any reform in Egypt. Without amending the current constitution, political reform cannot take place. Because we believe in the importance of this, Al-Ghad took the initiative and drafted an alternative constitution, adopting the principle of power rotation.

We hope this new constitution will see the light very soon.

Why have you decided that your party will not take part in the opposition parties' reform alliance?

We will never join the alliance, which rejected our participation from the very start, on the pretext that we were not a legitimate party.

That's their opinion, which I don't think will change. Even if it changed after we became official, it makes no difference to us. We are not going to be part of their alliance, but that does not mean that we will refrain from coordinating with them on reform-related issues.

Why have you said that Al-Ghad will not take the governmental financial aid allocated to all parties?

Simply because we decided to depend on ourselves; the financial aid we get from party members and supporters is enough.

Moreover, the governmental support may be used to shackle the party's performance.

Does Al-Ghad intend to engage in a dialogue with the NDP?

As a liberal party, Al-Ghad believes in dialogue. Dialogue between Egypt's different political forces is very much needed, if we are talking about reform. Thus, if we are invited to an open dialogue with the NDP, we will be willing to do so, as long as that dialogue is without preconditions.

And what about the Muslim Brotherhood group?

We have no objection to the Brotherhood or any political force whose legitimacy is from the people, rather than via a mere license.

When Al-Ghad holds its first general congress to elect the party's leadership tomorrow, will you be the only candidate for the chairman's post?

Of course not -- former MP Mohamed Farid Hassanein and others will run against me for the post, and I am very pleased with that, since having several nominees is a healthy phenomenon.

And although the party statutes give the party founder the right to chair the party for five successive years without holding elections, I decided to give up that right. I insisted on not chairing the party unless fair elections took place.

Not content with this, I also added a new item to the statutes banning the party chairman from nominating himself for the same post for more than two successive terms. After all, it would be nonsense to call for power rotation without applying it on ourselves first.

How will Al-Ghad's internal leadership elections be any different from those of other parties?

Our elections will feature, for the first time, judicial supervision over the whole process. The idea of judicial supervision was the brainchild of the party's leadership.

We asked judges and public figures to supervise the electoral process in order to guarantee fair results.

Egypt keeps new parties on short leash

By Dan Murphy | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

It's another Wednesday night in Cairo's poor Bab Al-Sharaya neighborhood and legislator Ayman Nour is leading one of his weekly party meetings, where Egypt's old-style culture of political patronage and the yearnings for democracy of a shrinking middle class collide.

Hundreds of poor constituents press up to Mr. Nour's elegant wife, Gameela, seeking help navigating Egypt's Kafkaesque bureaucracy, assistance in land disputes, or simply a little money.

It's precisely the sort of political ferment that President George W. Bush had in mind when he said the invasion of Iraq would serve as a "dramatic and inspiring example of freedom" to the region. His vision was for democratic change in an Arab world hamstrung by decades of authoritarian rule that has damaged its economies and helped Islamic militancy to flourish.Later, on the stage of a converted wedding hall, Nour delivers a rousing political speech, dismissing the government as outdated and repressive, punctuated by occasional shouts of assent from some 300 supporters.

But despite Nour's credentials as a member of Parliament, and the fact that his weekly meetings have yet to be stopped by the government, the Ghad Party operates in a legal limbo. Earlier this month, his and three other parties failed to win official approval for their organizations, making it illegal for them to attempt to widen their support before elections scheduled for next October.

"We've been promised legal status for a long time - but they never deliver,'' says Nour, who was originally elected to parliament as a member of Egypt's opposition WAFD Party, but was later kicked out of WAFD for criticizing its leadership. He remains in Parliament as an independent, since his new party is not recognized. "I'm extending my parliamentary immunity as far as a I can to allow us to operate, but as things stand we can't build the opposition Egypt needs. Egypt's politics are stagnant, and that's why the country is in so much trouble."

Over the past few years, there's been an unprecedented level of talk about reform in Egypt and other Arab allies of the US such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. But that talk has translated into little action, with strict limits on political activity in almost all Arab countries.

Last week Saudi Arabia, which is planning its first-ever national elections next year for posts in its largely ceremonial municipal councils, said that women would not be allowed to vote. Even in countries that have held relatively free parliamentary elections, like Kuwait last year, there have been no real gains for the forces of reform. There, gerrymandering and strong support for Islamist candidates reduced the number of legislators who support a Western-style democracy.

But it is in Egypt, the sleeping giant of the region, where the hope for change was perhaps greatest. Formally a republic, the country had some experience with liberal politics as recently as the 1950s. A large number of activists hark back to Egypt's liberal period when it was the region's intellectual and political leader.

"We want to reinvigorate the multi-party system, which is dying out here,'' says Mona Makram-Ebied, a Harvard-educated political scientist and a supporter of Nour's Ghad Party, or party of tomorrow. "There's a younger generation thirsting for a voice. They want to make a new and modern Egypt, and there's a great nostalgia to make Egypt what it was when it was the lodestar of the Arab world. But the system we have now is ossified, and it's standing in our way."

Ms. Makram-Ebeid, who comes from a prominent liberal political family, says reformers' hopes were lifted by a promise from the ruling party last month that it would make it easier for competitors to register. To her mind, the Ghad Party had jumped through every hoop put in front of it by the government.

The party has called for constitutional reforms that would create a parliamentary democracy and help prevent another leader from dominating the way President Hosni Mubarak has for the past 23-years. Therefore, Makram-Ebeid felt that no government committed to reform could continue to stand in their way. "Yet they still block us."

As dozens of party supporters gathered outside the Political Parties Court in Cairo earlier this month, expecting to hear their application had been approved (after four earlier denials), they were met with disappointment. The panel, composed of judges and members appointed by Mubarak's government, failed to reach a quorum when most of the government appointees failed to show up, blocking the party without having to issue an outright denial.

"When the government talks of reform, they are addressing foreign nations, and trying to fool the naïve,'' says Nour, who is also a lawyer. "They're just playing games with us."

So far, Nour has played the game right back. Having identified a loophole in the country's tight party registration law, which allows new parties a four month grace period to conduct limited activities while they await approval, he's created five parties with slight variations on the "Ghad" name in the past 20 months, registering a new name every time their application has been refused.

But he says time is running out, with elections scheduled for next October and no party offices beyond the one he runs in his Cairo constituency. "We think we could make inroads in a fair election. But now, we don't have a party newspaper and we can't really reach out to the people. I'll probably have to run for office as an independent again."