Election banners hang near buses ahead of parliamentary elections in Cairo 14 November 2011. A top Egyptian court on Monday overturned a decision barring members of President Hosni Mubarak's former party from standing in a parliamentary election that starts later this month, a move that was cheered by supporters of the now disbanded party. (Photo: REUTERS - Asmaa Waguih)
Monday’s lifting of the ban on Egypt’s National Democratic Party (NDP) candidates running for parliament may be the Trojan horse by which elements of the Mubarak regime regain political ground.
Just two weeks ahead of the first round of the election slated for November 28, the Supreme Administrative Court overturned a ruling that had barred NDP members from contesting the election in one Egyptian province. The latest ruling, which now applies nationwide, has caused uproar among opposition groups including the Muslim Brotherhood. The latter was banned under Mubarak’s regime.
A Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated youth group called the Popular Front Against Remnants of Mubarak Regime published on its website a blacklist of NDP candidates’ names. Meanwhile young activists have set up a Facebook group called Emsek Foloul (Catch the Remnants [of the regime]).
Many oppose the ruling on the basis that the reinstatement of NDP members into politics is part of the counter-revolution.
“It is an attempt to re-invent authoritarianism, through reproducing the same political elite and powerholds that existed before [January 25],” said Rabab El-Mahdi, who teaches political science at Yale and the American University in Cairo. “Lifting the ban is part of bigger context in which counter-revolution forces and interests are allying to circumvent any possibility for systemic [and] structural changes.”
Indeed, for many months now Egyptians have continued to struggle in order to ensure their revolutionary achievements are not co-opted by the very same powers that they fought against. As such, on the political, social and economic fronts, there is an ongoing battle to define the shape of the new Egypt.
Al Mahdi views the decision as an extension of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces’ (SCAF) desire to maintain its prerogatives in the political system, while “postponing the transition to civilian rule.” Such a postponement would be tantamount to sidestepping one of the revolution’s core demands.
Meanwhile the court decision was supported by those who believe “the NDP was so huge that its members can’t just be forced out of politics, even if they weren’t all corrupt,” as Amr El-Shobaki of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies said. “Those who were corrupt under Mubarak’s regime, and who participated in electoral rigging in the past should definitely not be allowed to run, and they should be tried. But other, lower-level NDP members should not be made to pay for others’ crimes.”
El-Shobaki argued that outlawing the NDP completely could only bring about a similar fate to Iraq’s, where the United States-led occupation outlawed the Baath Party in 2003. It is unclear, however, whether the comparison stands, considering that the political process in Iraq was by no means a sovereign one, but rather forced by an occupation army.
Just two weeks ahead of the first round of the election slated for November 28, the Supreme Administrative Court overturned a ruling that had barred NDP members from contesting the election in one Egyptian province. The latest ruling, which now applies nationwide, has caused uproar among opposition groups including the Muslim Brotherhood. The latter was banned under Mubarak’s regime.
A Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated youth group called the Popular Front Against Remnants of Mubarak Regime published on its website a blacklist of NDP candidates’ names. Meanwhile young activists have set up a Facebook group called Emsek Foloul (Catch the Remnants [of the regime]).
Many oppose the ruling on the basis that the reinstatement of NDP members into politics is part of the counter-revolution.
“It is an attempt to re-invent authoritarianism, through reproducing the same political elite and powerholds that existed before [January 25],” said Rabab El-Mahdi, who teaches political science at Yale and the American University in Cairo. “Lifting the ban is part of bigger context in which counter-revolution forces and interests are allying to circumvent any possibility for systemic [and] structural changes.”
Indeed, for many months now Egyptians have continued to struggle in order to ensure their revolutionary achievements are not co-opted by the very same powers that they fought against. As such, on the political, social and economic fronts, there is an ongoing battle to define the shape of the new Egypt.
Al Mahdi views the decision as an extension of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces’ (SCAF) desire to maintain its prerogatives in the political system, while “postponing the transition to civilian rule.” Such a postponement would be tantamount to sidestepping one of the revolution’s core demands.
Meanwhile the court decision was supported by those who believe “the NDP was so huge that its members can’t just be forced out of politics, even if they weren’t all corrupt,” as Amr El-Shobaki of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies said. “Those who were corrupt under Mubarak’s regime, and who participated in electoral rigging in the past should definitely not be allowed to run, and they should be tried. But other, lower-level NDP members should not be made to pay for others’ crimes.”
El-Shobaki argued that outlawing the NDP completely could only bring about a similar fate to Iraq’s, where the United States-led occupation outlawed the Baath Party in 2003. It is unclear, however, whether the comparison stands, considering that the political process in Iraq was by no means a sovereign one, but rather forced by an occupation army.
Uprooted Palestinian
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