National Front Party launches at new administrative capital with mission to restore faith in politics

Political and business figures gathered at a new administrative capital hotel on Monday afternoon to launch the National Front Party, a new group involving several former government officials who describe the project as seeking to “restore confidence in politics.”

The launch of the new party comes days before the advent of the new year, which is set to see the next round of parliamentary elections in Egypt.

Prior to its launch, preparatory meetings were convened and publicized over recent weeks by public figures, including former Cabinet ministers and personalities from the media and business sectors, all sponsored by the increasingly storied Sinai businessman and former partner to the military in the war on terror, Ibrahim al-Argany.

The new party will aim to “stand on a middle ground between loyalists and the opposition” under the slogan Egypt for All and offer “realistic solutions” to the issues facing citizens,” according to statements to the media on Monday by former Housing Minister Assem al-Gazzar — one of the main figures involved in the new party formation.

Gazzar said that the new party will also seek to formulate “broad political understandings” with the current political parties to form the largest possible political alliance and run in the upcoming elections, stressing, “The goal is to unite the political community in a period that cannot tolerate dispersion.”

The former minister noted that the new party launch comes after a series of meetings were held with figures from across the political spectrum, including “figures of the political, national, scientific, and economic elite; figures of senior Egyptian tribes and clans; as well as young political cadres and art, culture, and media figures.”

Figures previously noted by domestic media to have been involved in the meetings included former Agriculture Minister Al-Sayed al-Qusayr, Chairman of the State Information Service Diaa Rashwan, former House Speaker Ali Abdel Aal, and former Grand Mufti of Egypt Shawki Allam.

Editor-in-Chief of Al-Masry Al-Youm Alaa al-Ghatrifi, who recounted last week the events of one of the meetings he attended, said that Argany — a former fugitive who, in less than a decade, became a partner in the Egyptian military’s war on terror in Sinai and one of the country’s most influential businessmen who also holds a monopoly on trips facilitating the passage of Palestinians out of Gaza before Israel invaded and occupied the border — was one of the sponsors of these meetings.

Commenting on Argany’s involvement in the new party, Ghatrifi relayed what Rashwan had said in the meeting, asserting that the presence of businessmen supporting the party is normal and replicated in most political entities, with their funding being regulated by law. Rashwan then categorically denied that Argany would be a member of the entity. “Ibrahim al-Argany is not a member of the party and will not be,” he said, with Gazzar confirming this denial, according to Ghatrifi.

On the purpose of the party, Ghatrifi also quoted Rashwan stating, “We are in a moment that requires this entity. It does not seek a majority and does not want to rule. We are not an ideological party. We are driven by one goal under the umbrella of June 30, which is to restore confidence in politics,” Rashwan said. “We are not the government, and we have no ambitions for it. Our concern is to develop political life in a transitional phase.”

Qusayr, for his part, stressed in the meeting that the party is needed to activate political involvement in Egypt, highlighting low voter participation during elections, according to Ghatrifi.

In the last round of parliamentary elections, Mada Masr correspondents witnessed campaign organizers facilitating material compensation in exchange for votes, resulting in an overwhelming majority for the Nation’s Future Party, which is close to the government and security agencies.