DSE: Reporters protest Al-Wafd halt

Reporters protest Al-Wafd halt
Paper latest victim of Al-Wafd party in-fighting

By Pakinam Amer
First Published: January 30, 2006

CAIRO: A group of angry Al-Wafd reporters sat-in in front of the press syndicate Saturday morning, protesting the halt of publication of the Al-Wafd newspaper that is now in its fourth day.
The newspaper halt was a direct result of longstanding in-fighting among different factions inside the Al-Wafd party. The conflict peaked when Noaman Gomaa, chairman of the party, was overthrown by a group of party “reformists” less than two weeks ago.
Senior leader Mahmoud Abaza, former parliamentarian Mounir Fakhry Abdel-Nour and hundreds of younger allies lead the overthrow, claiming that the supreme committee of the party was responsible for the decision to remove Gomaa. “It took around two hours to form the decision [of the overthrow] … It should have taken minutes,” Abaza told the press.
Abaza said that the new chairman should be elected by a majority of Al-Wafd members, notably the younger generations who need more representation. According to the senior leader, fresh young faces should be leading the party and the elderly must step aside. Accordingly, the new chairman should be chosen over the course of 60 days from the date of Gomaa’s removal.
Following his overthrow, Gomaa was assisted by his supporters and the police in gaineing access to the Dokki headquarters of Al-Wafd and declared himself “the one and only chairman of Al-Wafd,” refusing his removal from office, deeming it “unconstitutional and illegal” and accusing his rivals of fraud. The temporary resettlement of Gomaa was supported by a prosecutor general’s decision.
The overthrown chairman fired both the editor-in-chief and the managing editor of Al-Wafd newspaper last Wednesday, thus halting its publication in this transitional, yet critical, period of the party’s life. When his decision was frowned upon by many journalists, Gomaa reportedly topped it by dismissing 13 more reporters; Gomaa refused to listen to mediators from the Al-Ahram Distribution Company and allegedly said that his decision was essential to keeping the newspaper “neutral” during the strife and preventing its writers from taking sides.
According to the dismissed editor-in-chief, the overthrown leader allegedly wanted the newspaper to publish his name on the front page as the chairman of Al-Wafd. The editor reportedly refused, saying that he had to wait for the decision of the court to re-instate Gomaa’s name and position. Gomaa, according to reports, became furious and claimed that “through this [act] the paper was already taking sides” and thus halted it.
The decision, opposed by the press syndicate, provoked outcries from many Al-Wafd editors and reporters, who said they had always been “innocent victims” of the party’s inner conflicts. The reporters, who considered themselves on neutral ground, called upon Al-Wafd authorities not to involve them in their in-fighting and to remove the temporary ban on the paper so that they could resume their work “in peace.”
Reportedly, the reporters said that as a result of the Gomaa-Abaza strife, the newspaper’s status had become shaky, with the staff not having received their salaries for the month; the reporters called on President Hosni Mubarak to interfere and reinstate them. The sit-in participants were joined by representatives of the press syndicate, in addition to sympathizers from independent newspapers.
Meanwhile, Gomaa and Abaza still share the headquarters of Al-Wafd, holding subsequent press conferences and each insistent on his decision and each explaining the course of future proceedings of the party accordingly. Riot police remain watchful for fear of any outbreak of violence between zealous supporters of the two sides.
Gomaa and Abaza will remain under the protection of police while they await the Administrative Court’s decision concerning the former chairman’s standing in the party. The court decision is due next Saturday and is expected to be in favor of Gomaa, since initial reports by the national assembly said that the latter’s removal violated laws specified by the constitution of the Political Parties’ Committee and they called for his re-installment.
Gamal Essam El-Din, Al-Ahram Weekly political columnist and analyst, said that the Al-Wafd “long-standing and bitter” conflict will only be resolved by law. “The two parties will never choose to reconcile; even if they do, matters inside the party will never be the same. Sensitivities are high and problems may surface again and again.” According to the analyst, the rivalry is fierce and deep-rooted on both sides, will never lead to peace and “nothing will run smoothly.”
Referring to the decision to halt publication, the analyst deemed Gomaa “a dictator,” saying that the real reason behind the halt was that the newspaper refused to take Gomaa’s side. The analyst said that the court is the only entity that will “set matters right.”
“The newspaper is suffering because of the conflict, because of Gomaa … Gomaa makes his own authoritarian decisions without discussions. This has always been Gomaa.”

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