Three prominent politicians of the opposition Wafd Party issued a statement last week criticising the deteriorating performance of the party and called for saving it from its “corrupt leadership”. The high-profile members are Egypt’s former foreign minister and honorary chairman of the Wafd Amr Moussa, Wafd’s former chairman Mahmoud Abaza, and former secretary-general Mounir Fakhri Abdel-Nour.

The statement said “under its current leadership the Wafd Party’s deteriorating conditions have reached a crescendo.”

Not only is the Wafd currently suffering from poor political performance, “deteriorating financial conditions and conflicts of interest, but is also being rocked with scandals that have tarnished its reputation and sowed the seeds of divisions among its members,” the statement said, insisting that “there is no hope that the current Wafd leadership will take any steps towards reform of the party and repositioning it as a strong political party.”

The statement concluded by calling upon all “genuine Wafdists” to close ranks to save the party from those who caused harm to its image and did damage to the reputation of Egyptian political life. It also called upon Wafdists to unite and safeguard the Wafd “from the irresponsible acts of saboteurs who infiltrated the party’s ranks”. It accused the party’s leader of providing the so-called saboteurs with covert support “which harms the Wafd and undermines the Egyptian political landscape”.

As a result, the statement demanded that Wafd’s leader Abdel-Sanad Yamama resign and allow elections to be held to let Wafdists choose a new leader and inject new blood in its ranks.

The statement was issued following a leaked video showing two of the Wafd’s members discussing the trafficking of ancient artefacts and antiquities.

The video, which led to angry reactions among the party’s members, showed Wafdists talking in a secret meeting at the party’s headquarters about a deal over illegal trafficking in ancient artifacts.

Under Egyptian law, unauthorised archaeological digging and antiquities trafficking and smuggling are strictly prohibited, imposing severe penalties that reach life imprisonment and hefty fines.

The video led Yamama to entrust the party’s Central Organisational Committee with opening an internal investigation into the video and questioning those allegedly involved in the antiquities trafficking deal.

The committee announced it had decided to expel two members — Safeer Al-Sayed Mohamed Nour and Abdel-Wahab Barakat Al-Sayed Mahfouz — who appeared in the leaked video discussing trafficking in artefacts and to refer them to the prosecution.

The Wafd’s Central Organisational Committee is headed by Secretary-General and party spokesperson Yasser Al-Hodeibi, with the membership of Safwat Abdel-Hamid, Abdel-Azim Al-Basel, Ibrahim Saleh, Gamal Bilal, and Mohamed Abdel-Gawad Fayed.

Yamama approved the committee’s decision to expel Nour and Mahfouz and terminate their membership.

Yamama, however, criticised Moussa, Abaza, and Abdel-Nour’s joint statement, describing it as directing insults to the Wafd Party’s leadership. “This is an individual case which should not be used by some to direct insults to the Wafd Party and stigmatise its leadership in general,” said Yamama, insisting that “the party stands tough against any internal financial malpractices or personal misconduct.”

Yamama, also a former presidential candidate, described himself as “a man of the law who shows no mercy towards any members found guilty of committing shady practices.” Yamama, however, expressed doubt whether the video was captured inside the party’s headquarters, noting discrepancies between the background in the video and the actual party setting.

Yamama, an international law professor with Menoufiya University, ran in the presidential elections of December last year. He came last, getting 822,000 votes, or 1.9 per cent. Political analysts said the poor performance reflected the dwindling popularity of the Wafd Party.

In parliament, the Wafd holds 25 seats representing four per cent of the total.

Senator Al-Hodeibi confirmed that the individuals in the leaked video were indeed party members but dismissed rumours that they were leaders. He emphasised that the investigation is still ongoing to determine whether the incident occurred within the party’s headquarters.

Al-Hodeibi described Moussa, Abaza, and Abdel-Nour’s statement as “reflecting love” for the Wafd. He, however, said they have no right to ask for the dismissal of Yamama. “These three people, Moussa, Abaza, and Abdel-Nour, can also be described as political foes of Yamama, particularly when they attacked him for deciding to stand in last December’s presidential elections,” Al-Hodeibi said.

He described the Wafd as the most popular party in Africa and Asia as it was formed more than 100 years ago. “The Wafd is currently passing through tough times because it suffers from a severe financial crisis,” said Al-Hodeibi, arguing that “those who love the Wafd should donate and extend a helping hand to the party to save it from its financial woes rather than ask for the dismissal of its elected leader.”

Journalist and political analyst Mohamed Salmawy said that, like Al-Wafd, most political parties in Egypt are living under huge financial and organisational pressures. There are more than 100 political parties in Egypt, Salmawy said, but most of them are just “entities on paper.”

“It was believed that after the 25 January and 30 June revolutions, political parties in Egypt would snap out of their coma which had knocked them down for long years but this never happened,” said Salmawy, insisting that “Egypt is in pressing need of comprehensive political reform that will bring political parties back to life and let them play a more active role in a democratic and competitive environment.”

* A version of this article appears in print in the 1 August, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly