The Islamic Labour Party (), previously the Socialist Labour Party (), Commonly known in Egypt as just the Labour Party, is an Egyptian

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

-turned Islamist-political party. The party was suspended in 2000, but later joined the

Democratic Alliance for Egypt Democratic Alliance for Egypt, or Democratic Alliance, was a coalition of political parties in Egypt, formed in the wake of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. The largest party in the group was the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party. Aff ...

during the 2011-2012 parliamentary election; it gained one seat in the

People's Assembly of Egypt The House of Representatives () is the lower house of Egypt's bicameral parliament. Formation of the House The 2014 constitution that was passed in the 2014 constitutional referendum has put into place the following rules: the House that is e ...

History and ideology

The party established on 9 September 1978 by

Ibrahim Shoukry Ibrahim Shoukry (22 September 1916 – 5 August 2008) was an Egyptian politician. He established the Socialist Labour Party in 1978. Early life and education Shoukry was born on September 22, 1916, in Cairo to a wealthy well-reputed Egyptian fa ...

and others. It was originally a

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

party. The party is the successor of the Masr Al Fattah Movement, which was founded by Ahmad Hussain in 1933. Initially established as a

Left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

party, but ever since 1986 the party has undergone a major ideological change turning into an Islamist party. In 1987 the party formed an alliance, called Tahaluf, with the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

and the

Liberal Socialists Party The Liberal Socialists Party (, ') was a political party in Egypt, initially affiliated to the Arab Socialist Union. History and profile The party was established in 1976. Its leader was Mustafa Kamel Murad. He led the party until his death in ...

. This change was first demonstrated in the party's fifth conference in 1989 which was entitled "Reform from an Islamic perspective". The party platform calls for: * Establishing an economic system based on the

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

Shari'ah Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...

. * Protecting the national industries. * Equal distribution of investments among the Egyptian governorates. * Achieving unity between Egypt,

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

and

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. * Liberating the occupied

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

lands. * Promoting ties with developing countries.

1990 elections

The party and a few others abstained from the election because of an

amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. They ...

to the 1972 Electoral Law forbidding unified lists, with the Socialist Labour Party attempting to combine with the

in hope to change the

's view on Islam in a more leftist way, but this plan failed when they were suspended in 2000. The

and the Labour Party still remain great allies.

Sadat's suppression of the party

Before the party was anti-Mubarak, it opposed

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...

heavily through its newspaper and constant protests; this led to most of the head of the party being arrested, which in turn triggered the party's fall in the 1980s.

2000 suspension

On 20 May 2000, the Egyptian committee for political parties' affairs (the committee responsible for authorizing the formation of political parties in Egypt) decided to freeze the activities of the Labor Party and suspend its newspaper '' al Shaab''. The committee referred to Article 17 of the political parties law, which enables it to suspend the activities of a party, as a means of stopping any decision or act by a party that is contrary to the higher interests of the country. The committee attributed its decision to the split within the party ranks, with one group led by Hamdi Ahmad, a member of the party’s executive committee, and the other led by Ahmad Idris. The committee, in its decision, referred to the official complaint brought by those members concerning the selection of a new party chair. The two party members also asked for ''Al-Shaab'' to be suspended from publication and a freeze to be put on the party’s bank account. Labor Party chairman Ibrahim Shoukry described these demands as illegal.

The split

The Islamic Labour Party was split in June 2011 when some of the leaders of the party created the Arab Unification Party in June 2011.

2011–Present

The party became part of the

Anti-Coup Alliance The Anti-Coup Alliance (also known as the National Alliance Supporting Legitimacy) is a coalition in Egypt formed to reverse the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi. The coalition is made up of approximately 40 Islamist parties and groups. ...

following the

2013 Egyptian coup d'état The 2013 Egyptian coup d'etat or the Counter-revolutionary, Counter-revolution is an event that took place on 3 July 2013. Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led a coalition to remove the democratically elected President of Egypt ...

Lawsuit against Islamic parties

The ''Egyptian Islamic Labour Party'' is one of the eleven Islamic parties targeted by a lawsuit in November 2014, when an organization named ''Popular Front for opposing the Brotherhoodization of Egypt'' sought to dissolve all political parties established "on a religious basis." The Alexandria Urgent Matters Court however ruled on 26 November 2014 that it lacked jurisdiction.

References

{{Egyptian political parties

External links

alShaab
Labour's party official newspaper currently suspended but is still published online.

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights Annual report; Violations of Human Rights 2000–2001; part 9: The right to establish parties, associations & unions. 1978 establishments in Egypt Islamic political parties in Egypt Islamic socialist political parties Labour parties Nationalist parties in Egypt Political parties established in 1978 Socialist parties in Egypt