Chairperson Moussa Moustafa Moussa Headquarters Cairo, Egypt | Founded 2004 Newspaper El-Ghad | |
Founders Ayman Nour and Wael Nawara Ideology Secularism,
Liberalism,
Liberal democracy,
Reformism | ||
The el-Ghad Party (Arabic: حزب الغد Ḥizb el-Ghad, [ˈħezb elˈɣæd]; "The Tomorrow Party") is an active political party in Egypt that was granted license in October 2004. El-Ghad is a centrist liberal secular political party pressing for widening the scope of political participation and for a peaceful rotation of power.
Contents
The official El-Ghad Party, headed by Moussa Moustafa Moussa, was running the Egyptian parliamentary election, 2011–2012 as an independent list. The split faction Ghad El-Thawra Party, headed by Ayman Nour, was part of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party-led Democratic Alliance for Egypt.
Background
Ayman Nour left the New Wafd Party in 2001, and established El-Ghad. The party was legalized in 2004. After facing president Hosni Mubarak in the Egyptian presidential election, 2005, Nour was sentenced to five years in jail on forgery charges.
In 2005, just before Nour being sentenced, the El-Ghad party split in two factions. One was headed by Moussa Moustafa Moussa, the other by Nour’s (now former) wife Gameela Ismail. Legal battle ensued between both factions, both claiming legitimacy and simultaneously using the party name and insignia. The final court ruling in May 2011 was in favor of Moussa. Ayman Nour hence filed for a new party, Ghad El-Thawra Party or "Revolution's Tomorrow Party", which was approved on 9 October 2011.
The removal of Nour from the party leadership by Moussa, and the latter's election to the Egyptian Upper House, have been seen as compliances with the Hosni Mubarak regime.
Platform
The party platform calls for:
Name confusion
Ayman Nour has been tightly associated with both the El-Ghad name and party, even being accused of internal monopoly by other party members. Since both Nour and Moussa factions were using (and still are) the same name and insignia (ex: Ghad El-Thawra website), it was often difficult to tell them apart. For instance, Liberal International listed El-Ghad, specifying its leader as Ayman Nour, as an observer member. Many poll and media outlets used the term "El-Ghad" without specifying which party or faction they are referring to, although they often meant the Ayman Nour Ghad El-Thawra faction.