Word: wafd
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There is little hope that other Egyptian parties could do any better than the Wafd. The Saadists, the country's No. 2 party, a group that broke away from the Wafd in 1938 because it was disgusted with Wafdist corruption, is itself little better today...
Egypt's leading party, the Wafd al Misri (meaning Egyptian Delegation), used to be genuinely popular, a vigorous fighter for reform. But with the death in 1927 of its founder, a onetime fellah named Saad Zagluhl, the party began to sag and split. When the Wafd came to power again in January 1950, after years in & out of office, the party pulled a gigantic switch: from its traditional status as His Majesty's loyal opposition, it became His Majesty's obedient servant. The price for the switch: patronage and palace favors for Wafd politicos. The Wafd government...
Evil Genius. Premier Mustapha el Nahas Pasha, titular leader of the Wafd, is old (75), tired and ailing. A fellah's son and once a shrewd, honest politician, Nahas now merely wants to remain Premier in peace & quiet. He still has a following, but on official occasions these days the party usually hires a small crowd to kiss his hand, which makes him happy. The party is really run by a group of rich, unscrupulous newcomers, led by huge Fuad Serag el Din, Wafd secretary general and Minister of the Interior & Finance. Serag el Din's good friend...
...Strongest Man? The Wafd has the most efficiently corrupt political organization in the country. At the last elections, policemen handed out ballots to the illiterate fellahin and showed them where to make their marks (in that way one cop boasted he had cast 5,000 straight votes for the Wafd). The party made numerous campaign promises of social reform, has carried out virtually none of them; the one way in which it hopes to keep its popularity and make the people forget about their discontent is to whip up anti-British feeling...
...Wafd government has been negotiating for nearly two years with London to revise the 1936 treaty, which gives the British bases in the Suez Canal Zone. Currently the negotiations are bogged down. Many Wafd leaders do not actually want the British to withdraw from the Canal Zone because they know that the Egyptian army, miserably beaten by the Israelis three years ago, could never alone defend Egypt. King Farouk himself is known to oppose British evacuation but would never dare admit it in public...