The Egyptian Socialist Party (''El-Hizb El-Ishtiraki El-Masri'') is a political party in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
which was founded by some Egyptian socialists after the
2011 Egyptian revolution
The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...
.
History and profile
The party was founded on 18 June 2011 at a conference attended by over 400 Egyptian & international socialists. Members such as
Karima El-Hefnawy and chairman
Ahmed Bahaa El-Din Shaaban were prominent leaders of the
Kefaya
Kefaya ( arz, كفاية ''kefāya'', , "enough") is the unofficial moniker of the Egyptian Movement for Change ( ar, الحركة المصرية من أجل التغيير ''el-Haraka el-Masreyya men agl el-Taghyeer''), a grassroots coalition ...
movement.
Party member
Mamdouh Habashi stated that the Egyptian Socialist Party saw "the uprising of January 25 not as the revolution, but just the start of a new, long revolutionary tide."
![Banner from the Egyptian Socialist Party](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Banner_from_the_Egyptian_Socialist_Party.jpg)
The party has a membership of over 1000,
with branches established in cities such as Mansoura, Aswan and Luxor as well as Cairo and Alexandria.
[
In addition to involvement with the ongoing protests in ]Tahrir Square
Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English language, English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political dem ...
, members of the Egyptian Socialist Party are also involved with such issues as the rights of inhabitants of informal settlements in Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, and helped in organising protests and strikes amongst these communities in August 2011.[ Other areas that party members within include independent trade unions and environmental issues.][
On 10 May 2011, the Egyptian Socialist Party agreed to enter into a Coalition of Socialist Forces with four other Egyptian leftist groups called, which includes the ]Revolutionary Socialists
The Revolutionary Socialists ( ar, الاشتراكيون الثوريون; ) (RS) are a Trotskyist organisation in Egypt originating in the tradition of 'Socialism from Below'. Leading RS members include sociologist Sameh Naguib. The organisatio ...
, the Socialist Popular Alliance Party
The Socialist People's Alliance Party ( ar, حزب التحالف الشعبي الإشتراكي ''Hizb Al-Tahalof Al-Shaeby Al-Ishtiraky'', SPAP) is a leftist party in Egypt formed shortly after the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Its membership ...
, the Egyptian Communist Party
The Egyptian Communist Party ( ar, الحزب الشيوعي المصري) (ECP) is a communist party in Egypt.
History and profile
The modern Egyptian Communist Party was formed in 1975 by a number of members of the former Egyptian Communist P ...
and the Workers Democratic Party
The Workers National Democratic Party (WDP) ( ar, حزب العمال الديمقراطي) is a workers' political party in Egypt formed shortly after the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. It is backed by the Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions an ...
. For the 2011-2012 parliamentary election, the Egyptian Socialist Party joined the " Revolution Continues" alliance. The party had originally entered the Egyptian Bloc
The Egyptian Bloc ( ar, الكتلة المصرية, ') was an electoral alliance in Egypt. It was formed in August 2011 by several liberal, social democratic, and leftist political parties and movements, as well as the traditional Islamist Suf ...
alliance, but withdrew shortly before the elections. Party chairman Ahmed Bahaa El-Din Shaaban stated that the reason for the decision was due to "remnants of the old regime in some of the parties under the bloc". Egyptian Socialist Party list leader Karima El-Hefnawy was one of only two female candidates at the head of a list standing in the elections.[Revolution Continues Alliance]
" ''Jadaliyya
''Jadaliyya'' ("dialectic") is an independent ezine founded in 2010 by the Arab Studies Institute (ASI) to cover the Arab World and the broader Middle East. It publishes articles in Arabic, French, English and Turkish, and is run primarily on a ...
''
References
{{Egyptian political parties
Socialist parties in Egypt
2011 establishments in Egypt
Political parties established in 2011