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The formation of al Ghad is not enough
EOHR calls for the abolishment of the Committee on Party Political Affairs
31/10/2004
While welcoming the Committee for Party Political Affairs' decision to approve the founding of the al Ghad ('Tomorrow') political party the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) condemns its rejection of the founding of the al taqaddum al araby (Arab Progress) and Karama and al Wasat al Gadid parties . The Committee, under Law 40 [1977], constitutes an obstruction to political party freedom in Egypt and must be abolished.
Al Ghad had previously been denied approval on three occasions. The Committee - which is dominated by members of the ruling National Democratic Party - claimed that al Ghad's manifesto was not sufficiently distinguishable from that of existing parties. This pretext, which was previously employed by the Committee to justify its rejection of the founding of both the Karama and el Wasat al Gadid parties, reveals the complete absence of clear and precise criteria forming the basis of the Committee's decisions.
As a first step towards defending the right to political participation and freedom of establishing political parties (guaranteed by the Egyptian Constitution and international instruments) EOHR calls for:
1. The abolishment of the Committee, which has responsibility for deciding whether or not a political party should be officially sanctioned. The majority of its members belong to the ruling NDP, which in effect gives the NDP the power to block the formation of rival political parties. The Committee's policies make clear that it is indeed used as a tool for preventing the establishment of new political parties, on the pretext that their manifestoes are not sufficiently distinct from those of existing parties. A total of sixty three parties have been rejected by the Committee since its establishment. El Ghad's legitimization brings the number of political parties in Egypt to eighteen; ten of these were established following a court decision, three were established in 1977 before the Committee came into existence and five were granted approval through the Committee.
2. Freedom of political party formation under the supervision of the ordinary judiciary and in accordance with the Constitution, though the annulment of Law 40 [1977] which renders the formation of political parties a practical impossibility. EOHR demands that the establishment of a new political party should merely require that its founders give notification of its creation together with a brief outline of its manifesto.
3. Amendment of the procedures surrounding the appeal of Committee decisions. This is currently the domain of the political parties division of the Supreme Administrative Court, which limits the appeal to one, rather than two stages. Normally the Administrative Judiciary gives the right of appeal in two instances; the first before the Administrative Court and the second before the Supreme Administrative Court. However, in cases concerned with the establishment of a political party this right is restricted to only one stage before the Supreme Administrative Court.
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