51 ‘Free Egyptians’ party members become members of ‘Nations’ Future’

CAIRO – 22 May 2018: A total of 51 Parliamentarians who were members of the liberal Free Egyptians party have signed a membership form with the Future of a Nation party, sources revealed.

The sources named MP Alaa Abed, chairman of the Human Rights Committee among the 51 members. Few hours ago, Abed announced his resignation from the Free Egyptians party to join the Nation’s Future party as the deputy chairman of the party.


File - Alaa Abed (L) and members from the Parliament’s Human Rights Committee

Essam Khalil, chairman of Free Egyptians party accepted the resignation of party member, MP Sami Ramadan, who announced his resignation in a telephone interview with Ahmed Moussa on Sada Al-Balad.

Khalil said that the party does not stand against the political ambitions of its members. However, he affirmed that the party will not accept back the members who decided to leave.



Moreover, sources revealed to Al-Ahram that Hossam el-Khouli, current vice president of Al-Wafd party, will serve as the secretary general of the Nation Future’s party. Khouli ran against current chairman of the party, Bahaa Eddin Abu Shoka, in the party’s presidential election in March.

Khouli expressed his dissatisfaction with the way Abu Shoka is leading the party, and told Masrawy news website that he disagrees with some of Abu Shoka's decisions, saying that he does not wish to waste his time and expertise on objecting to individual decisions inside the party.

Khouli announced Monday that he will submit his resignation letter to Abu Shoka. However, Hani Sarie-Eldin, secretary general of Al Wafd Party, rejected Monday Khouli's resignation.

Al-Sayed Al-Badawi, former chairman of Al Wafd Party, also announced his resignation on Monday for personal reasons.

Legal obstacle

Constitutional Law Professor Fathi Fekri told Masrawy in April that according to the law, a party member cannot change parties mid-term, adding that MPs have to preserve the conditions for which they gained people’s trust.

On the other hand, MP Ayman Abul Ela, of the Free Egyptians Party, told Al-Shrouk that a parliamentarian who is a member of a party would not violate the law if he decided to move to another party.

Both Free Egyptians and Nation’s Future parties are part of the pro-government “Egypt Support” parliamentary coalition, which holds around 400 of 597 seats in Parliament.

Shortly after the conclusion of the presidential election in Egypt, which saw an easy re-election of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, talks about reviving the political life in Egypt started to emerge.

In April, Egypt Support coalition discussed with Parliament speaker, Ali Abdel Aal, a suggestion to merge all parties of the coalition into a united political party. The suggestion was met by huge criticism and objection of some parties in the coalition, in addition to raising some legal concerns.

Merging with “For Egypt”

Earlier in May, members from Nation’s Future party denounced the party’s push to go into alliance with the newly-established "For Egypt" Association.

Talks to merge both entities was reported failed due to the association's alleged attempts to get in the driving seat and alter the party’s internal organizational and managerial structure, unloading it of its young leaders and influential cadres.

In an article published Monday, Ahmed al-Shaer, Nation’s Future spokesman told Al-Sherouk newspaper that merging political parties would help small parties sharing similar ideologies to form a strong party that can be recognized on the political scene. However, no need to merge big parties.

Shaer said that the Nation’s Future is not willing to merge with other parties, adding that the party welcomes anyone who hopes to join it.

However, sources told Al-Ahram on Monday that merging of the two entities will be officially announced Monday.

About the party

Nation’s Future party is a youth party that was established following the June 30 revolution, which ended with the ousting of former President Mohamed Morsi.



Presently, Nation’s Future possesses 57 seats in Parliament, the second highest number of seats compared to other parties, and has about 340,000 members across Egypt. The party has 58 headquarters in all Egyptian governorates.

In a statement in March, the party has renewed its trust in President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi for a second presidential term.