From: Mohammad <mohammad_b_haq@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tue, Jul 5, 2011 at 4:28 PM
Subject: [bangla-vision] Hundreds gather to found Egyptian Socialist Party
To: bangla-vision@yahoogroups.com
Ahmed Bahaa raised a burning issue at the moment for the Egyptian left —keeping Egypt a secular country. He said the Egyptian Socialist Party opposes aconstitutional amendment declaring Egypt an Islamic country. At the same time,Bahaa said, the party "perceives Christianity, Islam and Judaism as partof the Egyptian spirit, and we extend our hand to enlightened religious leaderswho share the same ground as us." His words were followed by a chantraised from the audience of "Moslems and Christians are joininghands!"
URL:http://www.workers.org/2011/world/egyptian_socialist_party_0707/
Report from Cairo
Hundreds gather to found Egyptian Socialist Party
By Joyce ChediacCairo, Egypt
June 18 — The Egyptian Socialist Party was founded here today before apacked auditorium of more than 400 Egyptians and international guests. Whatmade such an assembly possible was the enormous mass revolution of last Jan. 25that removed the U.S.-backed dictator Hosni Mubarak and made the name"Tahrir Square" an inspiration for popular revolt worldwide.
Some of the founding members of the Egyptian Socialist Party, (L to R) Dr. Salwa Antary, an economist and former general manager of the National Bank of Egypt, Saad Taweed, engineer, Ahmed Bahaa, agricultural engineer and head of the party. |
Composed of Marxists and non-Marxists, the party is centered around aperspective that capitalism has plundered Egypt and impoverished its people,and that the only way to develop Egypt and raise the standard of living isthrough socialist economic measures.
Speakers affirmed the Arab character of Egypt, their support for a Palestinianstate, the opening of the Rafah border with Gaza, and opposition to Zionism andimperialism.
The party described the impoverishment of two-thirds of Egypt's people asthe root cause of the mass Jan. 25 Revolution that deposed Mubarak, who hadruled Egypt for more than 30 years. The Egyptian Socialist Party sees itself asa continuation of that revolution because it seeks to address and rectify thepoverty and to fight against repression and for democratic rights. Membersreferred to the fertile grounds for socialist ideology in Egypt at thismoment.
The new party emphasized that it was part of a "socialist front"with like-minded left parties that would fight together on common issues anddefend the Jan. 25 Revolution. The other four parties are the PopularDemocratic Alliance — made up of a majority of the former"loyal-left" Tagammu party — the Democratic Labor Party, theSocialist Revolutionary Party and the Egyptian Communist Party.
Egyptian women bear the brunt of the economic downturn. The deteriorating infrastructurecan be seen in the rubble-strewn street. WW photos: Joyce Chediac |
The Egyptian Socialist Party sees itself as part of a long history of Egyptiansocialists fighting for the rights of the poor and challenging colonialism andneocolonialism since the 1920s.
Economic demands
Among the economic measures that the party advocates right now are decreasingthe disparity between urban and rural areas, since 87 percent — seven ofevery eight — of Egypt's poorest people live in rural areas; andaffirming the right of workers and the unemployed to freely form independent,democratic unions without interference from the state and winning unions withnothing more than notification of the workers' intent.
Other immediate demands include guaranteeing the right to work for everycitizen who is capable and desires to work; guaranteeing the right tosustainable unemployment benefits to each unemployed person; and raising theminimum wage and pensions to 1500 Egyptian pounds on the condition that thedisparity between the minimum wage and the wage ceiling not exceed 1:15.
Among other economic demands are tying wages to prices to maintain supportrelated to an increase in commodity prices; canceling temporary hires forpermanent jobs; and gaining popular participation in the oversight of themarkets and the distribution of bread. (For more details, see The EgyptianSocialist Party Political Perspective at www.tinyurl.com/egyptsocialism
Perspective on Egyptian women, keeping Egypt secular
The party recognized the leadership role that Egyptian women have played in thetrade unions and the role they played in the Jan. 25 Revolution. Speakerspointed out that economic deterioration and rising prices in Egypt over thelast decade have made women the country's most vulnerable group, withlittle access to education.
Ahmed Bahaa raised a burning issue at the moment for the Egyptian left —keeping Egypt a secular country. He said the Egyptian Socialist Party opposes aconstitutional amendment declaring Egypt an Islamic country. At the same time,Bahaa said, the party "perceives Christianity, Islam and Judaism as partof the Egyptian spirit, and we extend our hand to enlightened religious leaderswho share the same ground as us." His words were followed by a chantraised from the audience of "Moslems and Christians are joininghands!"
New election rules favor the rich
Bahaa explained that new rules for new parties to run in the upcoming Septemberelections are meant to "ensure new parties are only for the rich,"and that they "restrict those who would build a new system in Egypt andchallenge those with money."
To be on the ballot, new parties must have 5,000 registered members, and thentake out prohibitively expensive ads in the two major Egyptian daily newspaperslisting all 5,000 names.
According to Mamdouh el Habashi, the new party's immediate plans includeconsolidating its line and reaching out to people in other parts of Egypt aswell as to those in Cairo. (Most of the participants at the meeting were fromthe Cairo area, but there were also some from the countryside and otherindustrial cities.) While the party will not officially be on the ballot, elHabashi said they plan to run candidates in the upcoming elections in order tomake their program known.
International speakers
From the Arab world, solidarity statements to the Egyptian Socialist Party weredelivered from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the IraqiCommunist Party. Solidarity speakers from Europe included Johanna Bussemer, amember of the European Parliament representing Die Linke (the Left Party) inGermany, and Len Leroy from the French Communist Party.
From the U.S., this reporter delivered a solidarity statement from WorkersWorld Party and the International Action Center.
Other international guests included representatives from the Spanish CommunistParty, the French Left Party, the Red-Green Alliance of Denmark, and theKorean Democratic Workers Party (south Korea).
--
Palash Biswas
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