Abstract
Internal power struggles define the NDP and spring from its ideological and political diversity, a natural extension of the former single-party system. NDP members also struggle over power—the real source of conflict. Conflicts within the party tend to extend horizontally, eventually including entire governorates, the PA, and cabinet ministers. Therefore, any successful party faction ends up dominating not only the higher ranks but also the local branches of the party and everything in between.
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Notes
Alaa Al-Aswani, The Yacoubian Building (in Arabic) (Cairo: Madbouli Bookshop, First published July 2002): 114–123.
For instance, in Japan, LDP-supporters who did not receive official endorsement could still stand as independent candidates, maintaining a dynamic system within the party, despite the fact that it was the party in power for more than thirty-five years. This meant that candidates from the same party were competing against each other to some extent. To ensure that voters remain loyal, the candidate has to establish a personal support group—Koenkai. The Koenkai system is the analogue of the Asbia in Egyptian political system and is very expensive to create and maintain. To keep followers loyal, it is necessary to send gifts, flowers, or cards for births, marriages, and deaths, as well as cards at New Year and mid-summer, to members of the Koenkai and their families. See for a scholarly discussion of that point, Ian Neary, The State and Politics in Japan (London: Polity Press in Association with Blackwell Publishers, First Published, 2002): 72–73.
Ouda Jihad El-Borai Negad and Hafez Abu Se’ada, “A Door Onto the Desert, the Egyptian Parliamentary Elections of 2000, Course, Dilemmas, and Recommendations for the Future: A Political and Legal Study,” Friedrich Neumann Foundation, The Regional Office for the Middle East & North Africa and United Group—Lawyers, Legal and Economic Advisors, Research & Training Unit, (Cairo, 2000): 52–58.
Abrahim Nagui, “The Evolution of the PA Performance, The First Annual Report of the Second Session 1996–1997” (in Arabic), (Democracy Development Group, Cairo 1997), 145.
There are other similar examples to that of Nour, one such example is when sixty-two NDP MPs voted for selecting Al-Mahguib as PA Speaker. See Ismail Gamal, The Trial of the People Assembly (in Arabic), (Cairo, 1985): 95–96.
‘Amer Al-Shobeky, “The Organisational Structure of Egypt’s Political Parties” (in Arabic), in Ahmed Al-Moslmani (ed.), Political Parties in Egypt: The Reality and the Future (in Arabic), Democracy Development Group (Cairo 1999): 101–123, 115–118.
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© 2009 Alaa Al-Din Arafat
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Arafat, A.AD. (2009). The Tug of War. In: Hosni Mubarak and the Future of Democracy in Egypt. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137067531_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137067531_4
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