National Civil Movement: New political bloc in Egypt

CAIRO – 13 December 2017: A number of political figures announced on Wednesday the establishment of the National Civil Movement; a new bloc which includes eight different parties with several well-known public personalities.

In their first statement, the National Civil Movement demanded from the government to make several amendments to the law, especially in regards to the ‘protesting law’, and to release some of the arrested young men. The movement named Yehya Ehsan as the official spokesperson.


The National Civil Movement first press conference, Wednesday December 13, 2017 - Egypt Today/Hassan Mohamed

The founding members of the movement are Farid Zahran, chairman of the Egyptian Democratic Party, Mohamed Anwar Sadat, chairman of the Reform and Development Party, Mohamed Samy, chairman of the Karama Party, Amaar Ali Hassan, Ahmed El Borai, George Isaac and Kamal Abu Eita.


The National Civil Movement first press conference, Wednesday December 13, 2017 - Egypt Today/Hassan Mohamed

“We decided to establish this movement to counter the one-voice approach in the country,” Mohamed Sami, head of the Karama party, said during the conference.

According to the movement’s spokesperson Yehya Ehsan, the bloc is supposed to include several well-known public figures such as veteran activist and writer Alaa al-Aswany, former head of Egypt's Central Auditing Organization (CAO) Hesham Genena and director Daoud Abdel Sayed.


The National Civil Movement first press conference, Wednesday December 13, 2017 - Egypt Today/Hassan Mohamed

Despite having a huge number of political parties before the revolution of January 2011 (up to 84), none of them had a real opportunity to form a political opposition because of the nature of the political environment at the time. Only the ruling National Democratic Party had the upper hand. However, after the revolution, Egypt’s political community thrived remarkably and more than 30 parties announced their establishment.