Cairo Magazine - Leaving tomorrow

Mona Makram Ebeid is the latest in a series of high-level departures from Al Ghad.

MENA

Mona Makram Ebeid, secretary-general of Al Ghad party, resigned on 28 May, citing “internal problems which have paralyzed the party’s activities and derailed the party’s liberal message.”

According to party leader Ayman Nour, “the main problem for Mona was the struggle between her and [vice presidents] Ragab Hilal Hemeida and Moussa Moustafa Moussa. She wanted me to take action against them, to dismiss them from the party, because of their stances and because she felt they were conspiring against her.” Nour explained that Ebeid pushed for him to fire the two vice presidents, just as Aref Al Dessouqi was dismissed for writing articles in a local paper that were perceived as harmful to the party.

“I couldn’t [fire them], because I’m bound to operate within the rules of the party,” said Nour. He said that he will try to convince Ebeid to return.

The resignation comes as the latest in a string of high-profile departures by party heads over the course of the past month. The period has witnessed the exit of Rafaat Khaled, Mahmoud Al Shazli and Muhammed Mansour Hassan.

Ebeid pointed to “unfortunate” choices in party membership as the principle cause of recent internal strife. She said that some party members are aiming to destroy the party, while others do not share the fundamental liberal principles on which it was founded. The internal divisions have become more apparent, according to Ebeid, since Nour was imprisoned on forgery charges in February.

Among the factors that contributed to her decision to leave was an article that appeared a week earlier in the independent weekly Al Mogaz. The article was highly critical of her and cited information leaked by party members. Sensing the stirrings of a defamation campaign, she left the party.

Ebeid criticized Nour for concentrating his attention on the party newspaper after his release from prison, at the expense of the day-to-day administration of the organization.

Hisham Kassem, the vice-president in charge of foreign affairs at the party, attributed the rash of resignations to outside pressure. This includes a recent press campaign that targeted Kassem after he was photographed sitting next to Israeli Minister of Transportation Meir Sheetrit at a dinner at the Washington Institute for Middle East Studies, where Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif was speaking. The Institute is funded by the American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC), a leading pro-Israel lobby. Kassem added that actions by the state have exacerbated pre-existing internal problems.

“Mona’s resignation wasn’t a fortuitous decision. She left the party at a difficult time, when she had the option of waiting for this crisis to pass, or resigning from her position but maintaining her membership,” said Kassem. “This government pressure will cause more resignations among those who can’t deal with the pressure,” he added, while confirming that he had no plans to leave the party himself. “Even though some leaders have left the party, the party still has good elements among its young leaders.”

Ebeid emphasized that she has no major problems with Nour, describing him as “the most intelligent politician I know,” while noting that he lacks experience in leading a party. “But this is not a serious problem, because he is still young, and has a good future. I hope that my leaving will not disrupt the party, and that it can continue,” she added.

Ebeid is the scion of a notable political family and, like Ayman Nour, was a member of Al Wafd before she resigned in 1990 over the party’s decision to boycott the parliamentary elections. She ran as an independent, lost, and was then nominated by President Hosni Mubarak to fill one of the ten presidentially-appointed seats in the People’s Assembly. She has announced that she will run in the next election as an independent candidate from Shoubra.