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Free Egyptians Party

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Free Egyptians Party
حزب المصريين الأحرار
ChairmanEssam Khalil[1]
Secretary-GeneralNader El Sharkawy (Acting)
FounderNaguib Sawiris[2]
Founded3 April 2011 (2011-04-03)
Headquarters2 Hassan Sabry Street Zamalek,Cairo
Membership (2011)100,000[3]
IdeologyEgyptian nationalism
Liberalism[4]
Secularism[5]
Political positionCentre[6] to centre-right[7]
National affiliationFor the Love of Egypt (2015-2018)
Regional affiliationArab Liberal Federation
Colors  Red
SloganParty For All Egyptians
حزب لكل المصريين
House of Representatives
0 / 596
Senate
1 / 300
Website
www.almasreyeenelahrar.com

The Free Egyptians Party (Arabic: حزب المصريين الأحرار, romanized: Ḥizb El Maṣrīyīn El Aḥrār [ħezb el mɑsˤɾejˈjiːn el ʔɑħˈɾˤɑːɾˤ]) is an Egyptian liberal party, founded after the 2011 Egyptian revolution.[8] It supports the principles of a liberal, democratic, and secular political order in Egypt. The Free Egyptians Party was the largest party in the House of Representatives. The party is a founding member of Al Hurriya Liberal Network.[9]

History

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Establishment

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The party's first annual conference in 2011.

On 3 April 2011, the engineer and businessman Naguib Sawiris, and a group of intellectuals and political activists announced the establishment of the party and declared the program, the objectives and the basic principles of the party.[10] Other prominent party members include the Egyptian American scientist Farouk El-Baz,[11] the Egyptian Arabic poet Ahmed Fouad Negm, the writer Gamal El-Ghitani, and the telecommunications entrepreneur Khaled Bichara.[12]

In July 2011, infighting emerged within the party. An internal faction called the "Group of 17" accused the national leadership of undemocratic methods in choosing local leaders in the Damietta Governorate and of tolerating former members of the National Democratic Party, the ruling party of the toppled Mubarak regime, within the ranks of the Free Egyptians Party. Five of the dissidents have been excluded from the party, and have been denoted as "troublemakers" by party officials.[4] Nevertheless, in August of the same year, the new party reported to have 100,000 members.[3]

Egyptian Bloc and elections of 2011/2012

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The Free Egyptians Party was an integral component of the Egyptian Bloc, a broad electoral alliance opposing the Muslim Brotherhood, founded on 16 August 2011. The Egyptian Bloc has taken up the cause of defending Egypt's secularity and civic society.[13] However, until the first post-revolutionary parliamentary elections, held in November 2011 and January 2012, several member parties left the Egyptian Bloc, complaining that it included "remnants of the former regime".[14]

So, at the time of the election the Bloc only included the Free Egyptians Party, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party (ESDP), and Tagammu.[15][16] Together, the Bloc won 2,402,238 votes, corresponding to a share of 8.9%. Of the 332 seats allocated to parties and coalitions, 33 were taken by candidates of the Egyptian Bloc, 14 of which were members of the Free Egyptians Party. One FEP member was elected to one of the 166 seats reserved for individual candidates.

Unlike its partners ESDP and Tagammu, the Free Egyptians Party decided to boycott the Shura council elections in January and February 2012, citing the reluctance of authorities to address irregularities during the lower house elections.[17] After the elections, the Egyptian Bloc collapsed with the ESDP retiring, claiming that the other partners were more concerned over the secular-Islamist divide than over the differences between the former regime and the forces of the revolution.[18] In March 2012, former deputy chairman and member of parliament Mohamed Abu Hamed resigned from the party to become a leader of the Life of the Egyptians Party and later of the Egyptian Patriotic Movement.[19]

Opposition against the Islamist government

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The Free Egyptians did not take part in the selection of members of the Constituent Assembly in June 2012, lamenting an over-representation of Islamists in it.[20] It confirmed its calls to boycott the assembly in September 2012.[21] Instead, the FEP participated in a number of projects trying to coordinate the secular opposition against the Islamist majority that came out of the election, namely the Egyptian Nation Alliance that was announced in September 2012,[22] the Civil Democratic Movement of October 2012,[23] and the National Salvation Front founded in November 2012.[24] The FEP called for a boycott of the constitutional referendum in December 2012 to demonstrate their rejection of the entire process that led to the Islamist-sponsored 2012 constitution.[25]

After 2013 protests

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The Free Egyptians Party supported the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, which followed anti-government protests against him. The party regarded the protests leading up to Morsi's removal as a revolution and did not regard his overthrow as a coup.[26] In December 2013, the older liberal Democratic Front Party merged into the Free Egyptians Party.[27] In the same month, it was reported that the Free Egyptians Party had become part of the National Front Coalition,[28] but in February 2014 the party clarified that it would not make sense to join an electoral alliance before the electoral law was even passed.[29]

The Free Egyptians supported the 2014 Egyptian constitution that was up for vote during the January 2014 constitutional referendum,[30] which it passed with 98.1% (while the turnout was 38.6%). In April 2014, the Free Egyptians Party was admitted as a full member to the Liberal International,[31] as it had previously already been an observer member and member of the regional Arab Alliance for Freedom and Democracy. The party declared its support for candidate Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in the May 2014 presidential election.[32]

President

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After the party's establishment, a presidential office was established to act as president of the party until internal elections.. After the parliamentary elections of November 2011 and January 2012, Ahmed Said was appointed as interim president of the party and Rawi Camel-Touge as interim Secretary General. After holding the first congress of the party on 10 May 2013 Ahmed Said was elected as the first elected president of the Free Egyptians Party. After the merger of the Democratic Front Party into the Free Egyptians Party, at the first Supreme Council meeting on 28 April 2014 Essam Khalil was elected to be General Secretary.[citation needed]

in December 2015, Free Egyptians Party elected his leader Essam Khalil with 84% of votes[1] to be the second elected president.

Political bureau

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The first elected Political Bureau of the Free Egyptians Party:

  • Essam Khalil – Party Leader
  • Nader El Sharkawy; (Acting Secretary General)
  • Alaa Abed – Parliamentary Bloc Chief
  • Belal Habash
  • Shehab Wagieh
  • Mona Gab Allah
  • Ahmed Saif – Managing Director
  • Manal Abdel-Hamid
  • Nassr El Kafas
  • Amir Youssef

Board of trustees

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Board of trustees was approved in the first congress of the party

Internal crisis

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In 2016, the Free Egyptians Party underwent a major internal crisis that led to the division of the party into two opposing factions; one led by party leader Essam Khalil, and the other led by party founder Naguib Sawiris.

Buildup

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Essam Khalil saw Sawiris and the board as being too domineering over party affairs, and that the only way to effectively lead what was now the biggest political party in Egypt would be to remove the board and transfer the executive and legislative roles of the board to the political bureau.

Furthermore, Khalil was angered by Sawiris' constant interference in party affairs and his criticism of the party's continued support for the government. Sawiris also called for disciplinary action against several party members, for voting in favour of actions he deemed wrong, such as the attack on the influential Egyptian writer and media personality Ibrahim Eissa. The majority of said parliamentarians were close friends of Khalil's, which caused further tension between the two.

It has also been reported that Sawiris had cut off funding towards the party for 6–7 months in protest of its policies.[33] Sawiris wanted the party to serve as an opposition figure to the government, whereas it seemed Khalil was just supporting everything the government did.

Division

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The dispute began when Khalil called for a vote to dissolve the board of trustees of the party at the annual party conference. Khalil emphasised that the party was too big for a board of trustees, and that the system of management of the party was too inefficient. He asserted that there are only two other parties in the world with a board of trustees, one in Iran, and the other being the Muslim Brotherhood. However, according to the party's own bylaws, any decision concerning the governance of the party must be approved of by the board of trustees.

Thus a stalemate was reached, wherein Khalil took control of the party as though the board had approved the new proposals, whilst Sawiris stood firm in his stance against the move, deeming it to be illegal, and continues to exercise great influence on the party.[34]

Aftermath

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Little has changed in the party's situation since 2016. Sawiris has since filed a lawsuit in Egypt against Essam Khalil for violation of the party's internal bylaws. However, due to the inactivity of the party, especially in the face of the growing influence of the Wafd Party and the explosive rise of the Future of the Nation Party, the Free Egyptians Party is no longer seen as the political force it once was. And as a result, It lost all of It's seats in the following parliamentary elections.

Ideas and Goals

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  • Advancing Egypt and working to make it a homeland in which all citizens are equal in rights and duties without any form of discrimination between them, whether on the basis of religion, gender, class or ethnicity, in which future hopes converge and in which the values of freedoms stipulated in the Constitution and the principles of human rights and their right to health and social insurance cover rise through a developed country and under a real democracy.
  • Advancing Egypt economically, socially and scientifically and upgrading education at all levels to be Egypt on an equal footing with developed countries in all fields and working to achieve prosperity for the people under an economic system based on free economy and social justice by creating an attractive climate for investment and building an institutional state and a modern legislative structure characterized by stability and continuity and respecting the rule of law.
  • Preserving the dignity and rights of the Egyptian citizen, whether inside or outside Egypt.

Election results

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Election year # of
overall votes 		% of
overall vote 		# of
overall seats won 		+/– Government
2011 1,201,119 (#4)
15 / 508
 Increase 15 Opposition
2015 1,009,083 (#1)
65 / 596
 Increase 50 Majority
2020 0 (NA)
0 / 284
 Decrease -65 (NA)

References

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  1. ^ a b "StackPath". January 2016.
  2. ^ Al-Masriyeen al-Ahrrar (Free Egyptians Party), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, archived from the original on 29 January 2014, retrieved 16 December 2013
  3. ^ a b "Liberal Egyptian party secures 100,000 members", The Jerusalem Post | Jpost.com, Reuters, 25 August 2011, retrieved 16 December 2013
  4. ^ a b "Free Egyptians party sacks five 'troublemakers'", Ahram Online, 17 July 2011, retrieved 16 December 2013
  5. ^ نص عبد القادر خيشي. "حزب "المصريين الأحرار" يرفع شعار العلمانية بزعامة الملياردير نجيب ساويرس - France - فرانس24". France24 (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 4 January 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  6. ^ Charbel, Jano (8 April 2014), "Anti-MB group dominates Engineers Syndicate elections", Mada Masr
  7. ^ Sabry, Bassem (12 September 2013), "The Uncertain Fate of Egypt's Political Parties", Al Monitor
  8. ^ "A Partial Guide to the Egyptian Political Parties". Connected in Cairo. 15 November 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  9. ^ "شبكة الحرية الليبرالية تطلق اجتماعها الأول من الأردن عبر منصة "زووم" | ثقافة | وكالة أنباء سرايا الإخبارية - حرية سقفها السماء". www.sarayanews.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  10. ^ "The Free Egyptians (Al Masreyeen Al Ahrar) Party". Electionnaire. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  11. ^ "Farouk El-Baz joins Free Egyptians Party", Ahram Online, 20 April 2011, retrieved 16 December 2013
  12. ^ Afify, Heba (4 April 2011), "Naguib Sawiris launches liberal 'Free Egyptians Party'", Egypt Independent, retrieved 16 December 2013
  13. ^ Saleh, Yasmine (16 August 2011). "Egypt liberals launch 'The Egyptian Bloc' to counter Islamists in Nov. vote". Reuters. Archived from the original on 27 December 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  14. ^ Raslan, Sarah (23 October 2011), "Revolution Continues Alliance stabilises, one day ahead of registration deadline", Ahram Online, retrieved 29 April 2014
  15. ^ "Liberal Egyptian Bloc launches its 2011 election campaign", Ahram Online, 1 November 2011, retrieved 29 April 2014
  16. ^ Sanger-Weaver, Jodi (November 2011), "Elections in Egypt: The Muslim Brotherhood, Theocracy and Democracy", Prospect, retrieved 29 April 2014
  17. ^ "Egyptian Bloc divided over boycotting Shura Council elections". Egypt Independent. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2014.[permanent dead link‍]
  18. ^ "All broken up: new coalitions form as old electoral alliances die out", Daily News Egypt, 25 August 2012, retrieved 29 April 2014
  19. ^ "Political alliances in the post-revolutionary Egypt". Al-Arabiya News. 2 October 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  20. ^ "Rift widens over Egypt's constitution after liberals, leftists stage second walkout". Al Arabiya with Agencies. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  21. ^ "Political forces sign on ElBaradei call for Constituent Assembly boycott". Ahram Online. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  22. ^ "Liberal, leftist forces unite to defeat 'unrepresentative' constitution". Ahram Online. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  23. ^ Massive New Coalition Unites To Rival Political Islam in Egypt, Al Monitor, 11 October 2012
  24. ^ "Profile: Egypt's National Salvation Front". BBC. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  25. ^ "Opposition forces gear towards a 'no' vote". Egypt Independent. 13 December 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  26. ^ Wedeman, Ben; Sayah, Reza; Smith, Matt (4 July 2013), Coup topples Egypt's Morsy; deposed president under 'house arrest', CNN.com
  27. ^ Two Egyptian liberal parties announce merger, Ahram Online, 21 December 2013, retrieved 29 April 2014
  28. ^ "Conference Party to form electoral coalition". Cairo Post. 15 December 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  29. ^ "Free Egyptians Party: We will not enter any alliance until elections law issued". Cairo Post. 15 February 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  30. ^ "Egypt's Free Egyptians Party distributes Braille draft constitution at rally". Ahram Online. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  31. ^ "Free Egyptians Party joins Liberal International", The Cairo Post, 28 April 2014
  32. ^ Kortam, Hend (28 April 2014), "Parties choose between Al-Sisi and Sabahy", Daily News Egypt
  33. ^ "القصة الكاملة لأزمة المصريين الأحرار - برلمانى". برلمانى (in Arabic). 29 December 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  34. ^ "Sawiris ultimately dismissed from Free Egyptians party - Egypt Independent". Egypt Independent. 22 February 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
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