Wafd party
The Wafd Party (from Arabic وفد Wafd 'Delegation') was an Egyptian nationalist party that was the strongest force in parliament after Egypt gained independence in 1922. In 1952 it was banned, in 1983 as the New Wafd Party ( Arabic حزب الوفد الجديد Hizb al-Wafd al-Jadid ) admitted again. Monir Fakhri Abdel Nour has been General Secretary of the New Wafd Partysince March 2011.
history
The Wafd party was founded towards the end of the First World War to achieve independence for Egypt from Great Britain . Since 1882, Egypt was a de facto colony of the Empire . During the First World War, the British ruthlessly converted the Egyptian economy to a war economy , which led to a widespread impoverishment of the population, because food prices rose sharply due to the purchasing power of the British troops. At the same time, cotton prices were cut sharply under British pressure. So in 1919 a delegation (Wafd) was formed at the Paris Peace Conferencewanted to put forward their demands, which the British prevented by arresting the leaders. The unrest that followed, the revolution in Egypt in 1919 , and the boycott of British goods resulted in the declaration of independence for Egypt in 1922 . An important leader at this time was Saad Zaghlul Pasha .
In the constitutional monarchy of the Kingdom of Egypt that came into being after independence , Wafd, who had meanwhile been converted into a party, was the strongest force in parliament and was the governor until 1952. She was often in conflict with the kings Fuad I and Faruq I , who wanted to rule without parliament, but could not assert themselves permanently. Also under British pressure, the Wafd governments were often disbanded because of nationalist demands against British influence.
The Wafd party was banned by Nasser and Nagib after the fall of the monarchy (1952) . It was re-established under President Sadat in 1977, but was dissolved again shortly afterwards. Under President Hosni Mubarak , the Wafd was re-approved as the New Wafd Party on February 8, 1983. Politically, it is classified as liberal . In the course of the 2011 revolution , the party leader of the New Wafd Party as-Sayyid al-Badawi called on January 28, 2011 for a transitional government for Egypt and called for new elections and a constitutional amendment.
Chairperson
- Saad Zaghlul Pasha 1919 to 1927
- Mustafa el-Nahhas Pasha 1927 to 1952
Individual evidence
- ↑ "The West should stay out of it". In conversation: Egypt's Minister of Tourism. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . March 11, 2011, accessed on March 14, 2011 (Interview with Monir Fakhri Abdel Nour about the 2011 revolution in Egypt and the uprising in Libya .).
- ^ Opposition Wafd party calls for a transitional government