Khaled Ali

Background

Ali was born in Daqahlia to a modest rural family. He graduated in 1995 and earned a degree from Zagazig University’s law school.

Activism under the Mubarak regime

Khaled Ali has been a prominent labor activist and lawyer. He is the former head of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR), a founding member of Hisham Mubarak Law Center, a founding member of the Front for the Defense of Egyptian Protesters (started in 2008), and a founder of "the coordinating committee for the defense of the rights and freedoms of association."

Al-Ahram Weekly called him a "legendary anti-corruption crusader", and CounterPunch described him as "Egypt’s best-known counselor and defender of independent unions and worker protests." In 2011, he was given the “Egyptian Corruption Fighter” award by the “Egyptians Against Corruption."

Legal victories

Ali's career has been highlighted by several prominent legal cases and victories, most involving corruption and the private sector. He fought corruption by the Mubarak government, which had illegally privatized public land and public sector factories. Suing government officials for selling public property, he won a judgment ordering the return of several large companies to public ownership.

A 2001 judgment in a case spearheaded by Ali saw labor syndicates gain more freedoms. His victory winning the renationalization of large companies, sold by the former regime in corrupt deals, included retailer Omar Effendi, the Nile Cotton Weaving Company and several other factories. Ali also served on the legal team that halted the privatization of Egypt's national health insurance and presided over the legal team advocating for transparency and protection of public insurance and pension funds.

Ali is known for filing and winning a landmark court case in 2010 that forced the government to set a minimum wage commensurate with the cost of living; it was raised to 1200 Egyptian pounds per month and covers all workers. In February 2010, he said, "The government represents the marriage between authority and money—and this marriage needs to be broken up... We call for the resignation of Ahmad Nazif's government because it only works for businessmen and ignores social justice. We call for a minimum wage and a maximum wage, as well as the connection of wages to prices. We also call for annual wage increases in line with inflation rates. We are against the privatization of the health insurance sector and call for the fixing of all temporary labor contracts." In April 2010, there was a demonstration outside the cabinet office, where approximately 300 workers protested the government's privatization policy and against the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), which is controlled by the government. Ali said at the time, "We'll give them a month. If after a month the verdict hasn't been applied in a manner acceptable to workers, all the workers forces taking part in this protest will stage repeated protests until it is implemented," Ali said.

Supporting strikes and the public sector

Throughout Ali's career, he has been a strong supporter of worker's strikes and public sector activism. In 2007, Ali noted the growing trend of strikes as a sign of political change: "Taboos were broken during the past few years of political ferment, and workers grew less afraid," he said. Speaking to a reporter in April 2008 about the general strike taking place, Ali noted that its purpose was not to harm the economy. "The point was to make a strong statement and to take a stand," he said.

Ali supports the December 2008 founding of the independent General Union of Real Estate Tax Authority Employees (RETA). In 2009, amid protests of the state-controlled ETUF and agitation for independent unions in a broad section of trades, Ali said of the tax authority and growing political action by workers in a number of sectors, “The RETA set the example for other workers and civil servants to follow. It's indeed the single most important independent political project in 2009. He addressed the problem of Egyptian labor, distrust of political parties, which have tried to co-opt labor's causes, and the fear that demonstrations would be brutally suppressed by the government. "There is also a tactical dimension to trying to avoid the wrath of the government and its security apparatus," Ali said.

Ali makes distinction between politics and political parties, however, citing the Muslim Brotherhood's control of professional syndicates, versus the intertwining of Egypt's progressive political movement and labor. “For years, labor constituted the social heart of the progressive political movement, which in turn served as the political brain for labor. That was important for the labor movement to articulate its discourse and negotiate its demands," Ali said.

Ali was interviewed in Cairo in February 2011 by a correspondent from Democracy Now!. Ali said that while middle class youth sparked the Arab Spring, which expressed the political will of the Egyptian people of different classes, the workers had set the stage. "Workers laid the ground for the emergence of this revolution, and I believe that any analysis which says otherwise is superficial," said Ali.

Khaled Ali has called on state authorities to allow workers to self-manage their companies when they are stalled, or when investors flee the country.

2011 Egyptian Revolution and its aftermath

Ali was active in the 2011 revolution, supporting worker's strikes and representing protesters and the families of martyrs against the government, while condemning the violence of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and Egypt's police forces.

On February 3, 2011, Ali was among the detainees detained by security forces after a raid on the Hisham Mubarak Law Center (HMLC) in Cairo. Amnesty International condemned the raid, which it characterized as a "crackdown", accusing the Egyptian authorities of "attempting to suppress the wave of popular protest" then taking place all across Egypt.

Between February 11, 2011 and mid-April 2011 alone, SCAF tried more than 5,000 civilians before military tribunals in trials generally lasting between 20 and 40 minutes in which groups of five to 30 defendants were tried at a time. Acting on behalf of a Rasha Azab, a former military detainee, Ali was one of two lawyers who challenged the military's decision to try civilians before military tribunals by bringing a lawsuit to Egypt's Court of Administrative Justice.

In June 2011, Ali was heard by the Administrative Court regarding a lawsuit seeking to overturn Law 34/2011, passed by SCAF and the Cabinet and which criminalized certain protests and strikes. Ali said, "Protests and strikes have always been workers' only weapon … since they have no ability to negotiate with the government — depriving them of this right is depriving them from voicing their suffering." He said further, "The law was billed as the ‘freedom of work and preventing sabotage’ law, while it is actually meant to prevent workers and poor people from protesting."

In August 2011, Ali took part in a press conference held by 36 Non-governmental organizations (NGO) to condemn a "fierce campaign" by the government and SCAF to limit protests. Ali criticized the Ministry of Solidarity for what he saw as their attempt to "monopolize" patriotism. He decried the defamation of activists protesting against Mubarak and privatization, as well as the practice of trying civilians before military tribunals as human rights violations committed by the Cabinet and SCAF.

In order to gain a more accurate picture of the revolution and gauge its success, Ali has been involved in efforts to collect information about its participants, especially those who suffered injury or were killed.

Ali condemns the violence in Egypt since the revolution and has been working with the families of 17 unarmed protesters killed by the military in October 2011, ten of whom were crushed to death when armored vehicles drove over them and seven others were killed when soldiers fired into a crowd.

Announcement

Ali's press conference to announce his candidacy for president in the 2012 election was held at the Journalists' Syndicate on the evening of February 27, 2012, hours after he announced the press conference on Twitter. His press conference was a well-attended event, held one day after his 40th birthday, the minimum age eligible to run for the office. He is the youngest candidate to enter the race.

“I am a candidate from one of Egypt’s villages ... a humble farmer, a president from Tahrir," Ali said. “I decided to pursue the race as a young man, inclined to support the poor, against military rule and with the rights of our martyrs. I am not afraid, so long as I have the support of all those who dream of freedom, justice, and dignity,” he continued. Ali is an independent and has never been a member of any political party. “I know that they will try to defame me, but even if they killed me or imprisoned me … you are the ones who will [continue] calling for your rights.” Supporters chanted, "Khaled Ali will rise, rise against capitalism" and "Who is Khaled Ali? He's the farmers' favorite."

Though a candidate and known as an activist long involved with labor and social justice, Ali insists he does not speak for the revolution, which he says is incapable of being represented by any one person. "Am I the candidate of the revolution? Am I the candidate of the young? No! I'm only one voice of many," Ali said in his announcement, calling himself the "candidate of the poor." He says he is running "as an independent young man who [has] sided with the poor" against military rule. His campaign slogan has been translated as "We will fulfill our dream" and "We will realize our dreams."

Ali's candidacy has yet to collect the legally required 30,000 signatures from citizens of at least 15 governorates. At the time of Ali's announcement, there were seven other candidates in the race. Registration for candidacy began on March 10 and ends on April 8; elections are set for May 23 and 24.

Gamal Eid, a well-known leftist lawyer and the director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, who works with the Ali campaign, said that a group of activists and workers began campaigning even before Ali announced his candidacy.

Platform

In his announcement that he was running for president, Ali declared, "My entire platform is built on the basis of social justice," saying it was "not just decoration," rather his primary focus and guiding principle, and for him, a higher priority than winning the election. Ali says his mission is to achieve the revolution's goals. He spoke of the need to lift Egypt out of poverty, citing education as a "fundamental tool" to accomplish this goal.

According to Ali supporter Eid, Ali's platform, still being crafted, may center around social and economic issues, including social equality, restoration of public property illegally sold under Mubarak, ending foreign debt, and stronger opposition to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Ali said, "We must also support the Palestinian struggle against the Zionist occupation; we must collaborate with the Palestinian resistance and lift the blockade on Gaza". Other main issues include building regional economic strength with Iran and Turkey to free the region from American domination, reversing corrupt Mubarak-era business deals, farmland rehabilitation, raising employment and protecting the rights of workers, natural resources and mineral wealth.

Ali wants the public sector to regain its status and social importance by "providing affordable goods and proper employment policies". Private property as a concept is not a problem for Ali, who believes that "no society can properly develop" without it, however, the enjoyment of it does not carry the inherent right to violate labor laws. "The worker will not have to visit his employer every day to kiss his hand to get consent. Only law would regulate the relationship between employees and their employers," said Ali. Speaking of his priorities as president, Ali said his primary focus would be restoration of Egypt's assets, lost when the former regime sold them off illegally. Ali calls for a mixed economy, a "partnership" of the public, private and cooperative sectors that would prevent price fixing and monopoly. Ali declared his support of reviving the public sector "with or without U.S. consent".

Ali is very critical of the military Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). He has accused them of propaganda and state-media manipulation surrounding the election. He advises the military to maintain its relationship with the Egyptian populace and not to parrot the police, who lost its favor. He spoke out against military ownership of industry and the means of production. Ali has criticized economic assets accumulated by SCAF, championing the need to renationalise factories and other assets. "It is precisely this plethora of institutions they own that prevents them from properly carrying out their mandate," he argued. One particular example Ali criticizes is foreign exploitation of 120 of Egypt's gold mines, saying use and development of the nation's mineral wealth should be planned and not become a means for foreign companies to benefit. He also says the army should turn factories and economic projects over to the public sector and let the unemployed work, rather than conscripts.

Ali says some people have exploited Egypt's revolution for their own gain and criticized members of the military and power elite, saying their previous connections with Mubarak have not weakened their undue influence in Egypt. He also spoke against the efforts of military leaders to politicize the police and army, saying plainly, "Stop the use of police and army in media and politics." Drafting a constitution should be delayed until after the military rulers have relinquished power to a civilian government, according to Ali. "It is not reasonable to hold presidential elections while drafting the constitution at the same time," he said.

He criticized the transitional military government, which he says has used violence to attack both youth and revolutionaries. Asked about allowing the "wheel of production" to turn in order to increase stability and reduce protests, Ali said, "Let the wheel of production stop until it turns with justice," pointing out that allowing production to return did not guarantee an improvement to the underlying problems causing the protests. "Under Mubarak, the wheel increased poverty of the poor while increasing the wealth of the rich," he said. "Whoever is elected must be more accountable to Egyptians than Mubarak", says Ali, vowing to both stand up to military and power elites, and empower the poor if his candidacy is successful.

The campaign plans to release its complete platform at the end of March and in the interim, will issue working papers on each plank of its platform.

Supporters

Ali draws his base of support from his prior work as a lawyer and activist, and his involvement in workers' rights and the 2011 revolution. Many of his supporters are students and activists who were active in the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak's regime. He is widely popular among labor and student movements due to his continual efforts at reform and social justice.

Reception

Many of Ali’s supporters see him as filling the void left by Mohamed ElBaradei's withdrawal. Samer Soliman, professor of political science at the American University in Cairo acknowledged the gap but expressed some doubt about Ali's ability to fill it. Ali is known primarily as an activist lawyer. As a politician, he is not widely known to his fellow citizens, and even those in his circles have been surprised by his decision to run, according to Al-Akhbar English. In contrast to Ali's activist past, some of his well-known opponents are former associates or members of the former Mubarak regime. Ali's lack of experience as a politician is also a concern. Even within the revolutionary movement, many remain skeptical about his candidacy, which is seen as a long shot. Critics argue that his campaign is an uphill battle and risks splitting the vote, which could benefit candidates connected with the prior regime.

Members of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party and Egyptian Socialists told the Egypt Independent that they are giving serious consideration to support of Ali’s candidacy. “Up until now, the situation is unclear. Khaled may be our choice. Some are proposing a potential partnership between Khaled Ali and Abouel Fotouh [where Ali can run as his deputy]," said Marwa Farouk, a member of the Popular Alliance. No party has yet endorsed Ali.

Political activity in 2014

Khaled Ali expressed opposition to the Egyptian Constitution of 2014, calling it "inappropriate" for Egypt.

Khaled Ali initially planned to run as a candidate in the 2014 Egyptian presidential election, however, he withdrew his candidacy on 16 March 2014 after the passage of the presidential elections law, describing the election as a "farce" while also urging el-Sisi not to run and the army to stay out of politics.

Publications