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EOHR calls for Abolishing the Committee of the Parties' Affairs
The Committee rejects the Establishment of a New Party
November 19, 2003
Most alarmed, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) received the decision of the Committee of the Parties Affairs issued on November 15, 2003. Such decision rejects the establishment of the El Ghad El Masri - a democratic social liberal party invoking the provisions of Law 40/77 on the Political Parties.
On July 8, 2003, the founders of the new party submitted the papers of establishing a new party to the Committee of the Parties Affairs. Such party represents the social, national, liberal current in Egypt. Article 5 of the Egyptian Constitution and Law No. 40 of 1977 prescribe the right to establish parties. However, the committee issued its said decision rejecting the foundation of the party since its program is not innovative.
In this connection, EOHR is of the view that the continuing enforcement of the prevailing Law on parties is a violation of the right to participate in public affairs, the freedom of opinion and expression and the right to peaceful assembly.
Furthermore, EOHR believes that Law No. 40 of 1977 on political parties is a major restriction on the freedom of parties. The parties committee defined in Article 8 renders party plurality in Egypt a mere theory as the affairs of the parties since establishment to dissolution are managed by this committee. The said committee approves or rejects the establishment of parties. It is composed of the Speaker of the Shura Consultative Council, Ministers of Justice, Interior and the State for the Affairs of the People's Assembly in addition to three of former heads of judicial bodies who do not have any political inclinations.
The decisions of the committee require the majority of its member including the votes of the three ministers i.e. the presence of the three impartial members is not a must. The jurisdiction of the committee can be summarized in the following:
1- Freezing the activities of any party.
2- Banning the issuance of any party.
3- Blocking any decision or action by a party that contradicts the requirements of the public interest. (Article 17/3)
4- Depriving any body from affiliating with political parties or practicing any political activity. (Law No. 33 of 1978).
5- The committee is entitled to ask the Supreme Administrative Court to urgently dissolve the party and its assets and to determine the agency that might receive such assets. (Article 17/10
The said committee - due to such authorizations - can by no means be an impartial. Consequently, under such committee political plurality is a theoretical one. The number of parties that submitted their papers to the committee and were rejected, on the pretext that their programs are not innovative, amounted to 61 parties. The committee had frozen the activities of 7 of 16 ones that were allowed to practice their activities.
EOHR confirms that the right to political participation and establishment of parties is prescribed by the Constitution, Article 5. Such right is absent from the political reality due to the continuation of the enforcement of Law No. 40 of 1977 on political parties. The said law gives the committee of the parties' affairs the right to abort any attempt to establishing new parties or to block already existing ones with the same pretext.
EOHR reiterates its demand of abolishing all barriers hampering the role of parties necessitating the intervention of the authorities to repeal this law. The committee should only be notified of the establishment of political parties and not to be entitled to give the authorization. Normal judiciary should be entitled to consider and dispute emerging whether between the administrative agencies and the party or within the same party so as to guarantee the seriousness of disputes regarding the chairmanship of the party.
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