Reform leader Mohammed ElBaradei has launched a new political party that he said aims to unite Egyptians and save the country’s revolution from a messy democratic transition.
The Constitution Party marks a return to public life for ElBaradei, who declared in January that he would not run for president and that a fair vote would be impossible during a muddled transition period.
His pullout four months before the start of the presidential vote dealt a blow to the liberal and leftist groups who were behind the Jan. 25 uprising that forced former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak out of office last year. The groups, many of whom had found in ElBaradei a rallying figure for their calls for democracy in Egypt, had been badly defeated at the ballot box in the first parliamentary elections after Mubarak.
Islamist groups, including the powerful Muslim Brotherhood and the popular ultraconservative Salafi groups, emerged as the biggest winner in those elections, capturing nearly 70 percent of the seats.
The young activists were also subjected to an escalating crackdown by the country’s rulers, including referral to military trials, arrests and media smear campaigns.
“The aim of this party is to save the great Jan. 25 revolution, which has been derailed, and is almost aborted and to restore our unity,” ElBaradei told a crowd of supporters and journalists on Saturday. “When this revolution started, we never imagined ... the tragic transition we are living today.”
ElBaradei, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency, said a new organized political group was necessary to unite Egyptians, and to prepare the youth behind the uprising for a political future.
“We hope through this party … to start anew to build the country on the basis of democracy and justice,” he said.
Fourteen months after Mubarak stepped down, the generals who took over are embroiled in a power struggle with the emerging Islamists. They dominate the parliament, but complain the generals are obstructing them. Many of their rivals complain the Islamists are overreaching.
The presidential elections due to start on May 23 have been marred by the disqualification of 10 candidates, including three front-runners, and legal disputes.
In a major setback to the -Brotherhood’s bid for presidency, one of Egypt’s most popular ultraconservative Salafi groups, the Dawa Salafiya and its political arm, the al-Nour party, said they would back moderate Islamist -Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh. He is also popular among some liberals and youth groups who launched the uprising.
The leader of the al-Nour party, Emad Abdel-Ghafour, said the decision was taken to allay fears among many Egyptians about the growing strength of the Brotherhood and Islamist groups in general.
“We think Abolfotoh has a popular consensus, is more representative and will bring together the different groups,” Abdel-Ghafour said.
The decision boosts the chances of Abolfotoh, but highlights the splits among the Islamist vote in the coming election. The Brotherhood candidate, Mohammed Morsi, is being supported by a group of leading clerics, while other Salafi groups have yet to back a candidate.
Morsi and Abolfotoh face competition from two liberal former regime officials, and the divided Islamist vote may play in their favor. Salafi leader Abdel-Moneim el-Shahat, from the Dawa Salafiya, told al-Jazeera TV the divided vote would ensure an Islamist candidate will be in a likely runoff. If no candidate wins an outright majority, a runoff is to be held on June 16-17.
Meanwhile on Saturday, the ruling generals and political groups reached an agreement overcoming some key disputes on writing the new constitution.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese