Egyptian Islamic Labour Party

The Egyptian Islamic Labour Party (Arabic: حزب العمل الإسلامي‎, romanized: Ḥizb al-ʿamal al-islāmī al-Masri), previously the Socialist Labour Party (Arabic: حزب العمل الإشتراكي‎, romanized: Ḥizb al-ʿamal al-iڑtirākī), is an Egyptian Islamist political party.

The Egyptian Islamic Labour Party

حزب العمل الاسلامي
Hizb al-ʿamal al-islami al-Masri
ChairmanIbrahim Shoukry
Founded1978 (1978)
HeadquartersCairo
NewspaperAl Shaab (currently suspended)
IdeologyIslamic socialism
Islamism
National affiliationAnti-Coup Alliance[1]
House of Representatives
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The party was suspended, but it later joined the Democratic Alliance for Egypt during the 2011-2012 parliamentary election, where it had gained 1 seat in the People's Assembly of Egypt.[2]

History and ideology

The party established on 9 September 1978 by Ibrahim Shoukry[3] and others. It was originally a socialist party.[4] The party is the successor of the Masr Al Fattah Movement, which was founded by Ahmad Hussain in 1933.[3]

Since 1986 the party has undergone a major ideological change turning into an Islamist party. In 1987 the party formed an alliance, called Tahaluf, with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Socialist Liberals Party.[4] This change was first demonstrated in the party's fifth conference in 1989 which was entitled "Reform from an Islamic perspective".[5]

The party platform calls for:

  • Establishing an economic system based on the Islamic Shari'ah.
  • Protecting the national industries.
  • Equal distribution of investments among the Egyptian governorates.
  • Achieving unity between Egypt, Sudan and Libya.
  • Liberating the occupied Palestinian lands.
  • Promoting ties with developing countries.[6]

1990 elections

The party and a few others abstained from the election because of an amendment to the 1972 Electoral Law forbidding unified lists, with the Socialist Labour Party attempting to combine with the Muslim Brotherhood in hope to change the Muslim Brotherhood's view on Islam in a more leftist way, but this plan failed when they were suspended in 2000. The Muslim Brotherhood and the Labour Party still remain great allies.

Sadat's suppression of the party

Before the party was anti-Mubarak, it opposed Anwar Sadat heavily through its newspaper and constant protests; this led to most of the head of the party being arrested, which in turn triggered the party's fall in the 1980s.[7]

2000 suspension

On 20 May 2000, the Egyptian committee for political parties' affairs (the committee responsible for authorizing the formation of political parties in Egypt) decided to freeze the activities of the Labor Party and suspend its newspaper al Shaab. The committee referred to Article 17 of the political parties law, which enables it to suspend the activities of a party, as a means of stopping any decision or act by a party that is contrary to the higher interests of the country. The committee attributed its decision to the split within the party ranks, with one group led by Hamdi Ahmad, a member of the party’s executive committee, and the other led by Ahmad Idris. The committee, in its decision, referred to the official complaint brought by those members concerning the selection of a new party chair. The two party members also asked for Al-Shaab to be suspended from publication and a freeze to be put on the party’s bank account. Labor Party chairman Ibrahim Shoukry described these demands as illegal.[8]

The split

The Islamic Labour Party was split in June 2011 when some of the leaders of the party created the Arab Unification Party in June 2011.[9]

2011–Present

The party became part of the Anti-Coup Alliance following the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état.[1]

Lawsuit against Islamic parties

The Egyptian Islamic Labour Party is one of the eleven Islamic parties targeted by a lawsuit in November 2014, when an organization named Popular Front for opposing the Brotherhoodization of Egypt sought to dissolve all political parties established "on a religious basis."[10] The Alexandria Urgent Matters Court however ruled on 26 November 2014 that it lacked jurisdiction.[11]

References
  1. "Anti-coup alliance denies giving up on the return of Morsi". Mada Masr. 25 December 2013. Archived from the original on 21 April 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  2. "Democratic Alliance (Freedom and Justice)". Ahram Online. 18 November 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  3. Dina Shehata (March 2012). "Mapping Islamic Actors in Egypt" (PDF). Islam Research Program. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  4. "Egyptian Political Parties". MERIP. 147 (17). July–August 1987.
  5. http://el3amal.worldispnetwork.com/ta3reef.htm (in Arabic) Archived August 29, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  6. "The Egyptian Labor Party". State Information Services. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  7. "Egyptian Political Parties". Middle East Research and Information Project. July–August 1987. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  8. "EOHR condemns committee's decisions against Egypt's Labor Party and its Newspaper". Egyptian Organization for Human Rights. 22 May 2000. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  9. "Arab Unification (Al Tawheed el Araby) Party". Egypt Electionnaire. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  10. Auf, Yussef (25 November 2014). "Political Islam's Fate in Egypt Lies in the Hands of the Courts". Atlantic Council. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  11. "Court claims no jurisdiction over religiously affiliated parties". Daily News Egypt. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  • alShaab, Labour's party official newspaper currently suspended but is still published online.
  • The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights Annual report; Violations of Human Rights 2000–2001; part 9: The right to establish parties, associations & unions.
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