The Watani Party ("National Party", ar, ﺍﻟﺤﺰﺐ ﺍﻟﻮﻃﻨﻲ, ''al-Ḥizb al-Waṭanī'') was a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

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 Medit ...

. Founded as political movement in 1895, the Watani was led by

Mustafa Kamil Pasha Mustafa Kamil Pasha ( ar, مصطفى كامل, ) (August 14, 1874 - February 10, 1908) was an Egyptian lawyer, journalist, and nationalist activist. Early life and education Kamil was born in Cairo in 1874. His father was an engineer who firs ...

, a Francophile journalist from

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

. The Watany platform was composed mainly by the city bourgeoisie,

monarchy A monarchy is a government#Forms, form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The legitimacy (political)#monarchy, political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restric ...

's sympathizers and also by the Khedive Abbas II, a noted anglophobe. The party also published a newspaper from 1900, '' Al Liwa'' (Arabic: ''The Flag''), with clear anti-British views. In the same year, Abdul Hamid II nominated Mustafa Kamil as

pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitar ...

for his support to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Its anti-British positions increased after the Denshawai Incident in 1906. The Watani became officially a party on 22 October 1907, after the first Congress of Watani. During the Congress, Mustafa Kamil supported the

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

. However, Kamil died only two months after the Congress, and the Watani was inherited by

Mohammad Farid Mohammad Farid or Muhammad Farîd ( ar, محمد فريد) (January 20, 1868 in Cairo – November 15, 1919 in Berlin) was an influential Egyptian political figure. He was a nationalist leader, writer, and lawyer. Origins Of Turkish origin, Fa ...

. Under Farid's leadership, the party supported the

law and order In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...

policies and

statism In political science, statism is the doctrine that the political authority of the state is legitimate to some degree. This may include economic and social policy, especially in regard to taxation and the means of production. While in use s ...

, especially after the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Boutros Ghali , image = Boutros Ghali Pasha.jpg , order = 9th Prime Minister of Egypt , monarch = Abbas II , birth_date = , birth_place = Kiman-al-'Arus, Beni Suef, Ottoman Empire , death_date = , death_place = Cairo, Khedivate of ...

's assassination in 1910. Ironically, Boutros Ghali's assassin was a Watani sympathizer. When the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

ended and Farid died in 1919, the party began its decline. Mohammad Hafiz Ramadan Bey led the Watani and started a pro-

Wafd The Wafd Party (; ar, حزب الوفد, ''Ḥizb al-Wafd'') was a nationalist liberal political party in Egypt. It was said to be Egypt's most popular and influential political party for a period from the end of World War I through the 1930s ...

policy, that became the first political party in Egypt. The Watani didn't win many seats in the elections, and after the

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

of 1952, the party was banned.

Electoral history

House of Representatives elections

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watani Party Banned political parties in Egypt Defunct political parties in Egypt Egyptian nationalist parties 1895 establishments in Egypt Political parties established in 1895 Political parties disestablished in 1952 1952 disestablishments in Egypt Anti-British sentiment