Egyptian political coalitions polarized ahead of elections

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REPORTING FROM CAIRO -- Islamic and secular political coalitions formed to stem the influence of Egypt’s former government and its corrupt ruling National Democratic Party have been weakened by divisions and infighting that have marred the unity of the protest movement that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak in February.

The Democratic Alliance, a group of 40 parties and movements formed under the guidance of the Muslim Brotherhood several months ago, has been upset by divisions in recent weeks as two-thirds of the parties have defected. The most powerful party left is the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice political party.

Parties such as Wafd, Nasserist and the Islamic Building and Development party said they withdrew from the coalition because they feared the Muslim Brotherhood was attempting to eclipse the voices of other movements. They said the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party ‘intended to dominate’ the political process by pushing the ‘majority of its candidates into the front spots’ of the alliance’s electoral lists.

‘There are no fair standards in nominating the alliance’s candidates and the Brotherhood’s party want to take the majority of nominees,’ said Safwat Abdel Ghani, member of the Building and Development party, which is the political wing for Al Gamaa al Islamiyya.

Abdel Ghani’s comments were shared by the head of the Nasserist party, Sameh Ashour, who said ‘the Brotherhood wants the majority with our consent, and that’s something we can’t agree on.’

Members of the Building and Development party, as well as the Salafi Al Nour and Al Assala parties, have announced discussions to form an Islamic coalition ahead of the parliamentary poll to be held in three stages between Nov. 28 and Jan.10. The political divisions are emblematic of an Egypt that for months has been struggling to move beyond the repressive Mubarak era while contending with a ruling military council reluctant to hand power to a civilian government.

The Egyptian Bloc, which was formed by 20 liberal parties and headed by the Egyptian Liberals and the Egyptian Democratic parties, is also experiencing rifts after 15 of the participating groups announced their withdrawal in protest to the Egyptian Liberals’ domination in placing their members on top of electoral lists.

The withdrawn parties were similarly angered by the presence of members of the dissolved NDP on top of the bloc’s lists. The Egyptian Bloc, established under the guidance of Coptic businessman and head of the Egyptian Liberals party Naguib Sawiris, was seen as the liberal alternative to the more religiously influenced Democratic Alliance.

Parties are aiming to take advantage of the new electoral lists system, which will allow voters to choose a given bloc or party rather than an individual candidate for two-thirds of the parliament’s seats.

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— Amro Hassan