Two Egyptian opposition parties merge under the leadership of Aboul Fotouh

The Egyptian Current Party, which includes youth activists who reject the rule of both the military and the Muslim Brotherhood, also known as the third current, has announced its merger with the Strong Egypt Party led by former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, under the leadership of the latter, Anadolu news agency reported.

The news agency quoted a joint statement issued by the two parties on Wednesday as saying that: “This is a meeting of the youth who belong to a great revolution, the revolution of 25 January 2011 that toppled the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak. We continue to believe in the revolution and its objectives, and bless the day when we all took to the streets together to achieve our dream of a better tomorrow and a homeland that preserves the dignity of all its citizens.”

Ahmed Yassin, a member of the supreme body of the Egyptian Current Party, read out the statement during a press conference at a hotel in Cairo, saying that, “The two parties have today become a single party under the name of Strong Egypt in order to achieve the goals that benefit the revolution.”

He continued: “We announce this merger as a first step that will hopefully be followed by further steps along the road to unite political parties and entities that seek to achieve the objectives of our great revolution. We are sending a message at the same time that we can work together as one hand to overcome all contrived obstacles and polarisations in order to address the counterrevolution and any brute authority that attempts to detract from the rights and sovereignty of the Egyptian people.”

The statement added that, “The revolutionary and political work of the party is our way of building a sound democratic life and achieving the goals of the revolution, bearing in mind the concerns of our people, inspired by their hopes and pains, and calling on all Egyptians to join us for working together for the good of our beloved Egypt.”

For his part, Ahmad Shokri, a member of the Political Bureau of the Strong Egypt Party, explained at the press conference that, “The Egyptian street is suffering from many crises due to the methods used by the current regime which rejects political solutions.”

It was not possible to get an immediate comment from the Egyptian authorities on Shokri’s statement or the news of the merger.

On 30 June 2013, mass demonstrations against the rule of former President Mohamed Morsi took place in Egypt, ending with his dismissal on 3 July by the army and with the participation of religious and political forces, a move that is regarded as a “military coup” by supporters of Morsi and as a “popular revolution” by his opponents.

Shokri continued, “The political sphere cannot be closed as it remains the means of expressing the people’s will.”

The third current was established in Egypt two months before Morsi was ousted by Egyptian activists who raised the slogan “No to remnants [of the regime] … not to the army … no to the Muslim Brotherhood”. They later on rejected the 3 July coup, the return of Mubarak’s regime, as well as the “return of the Muslim Brotherhood group”.

The third current includes many youth forces and movements, like: the Free Movement; the Strong Egypt Party; the Egyptian Current Party, many of whom were previously members of the Muslim Brotherhood group; and 6 of April movement.

The Strong Egypt Party was founded on 5 July 2012 by Aboul Fotouh, who was one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood before breaking from the movement in 2011.

The party defines itself as centre-left, or what is known economically as social democratic parties, with a moderate understanding of the political role of religion, rejecting the monopoly of Islam in any party or the misuse of religion in political conflicts.

The Egyptian Current Party was announced in June 2011 and included a large number of youth from the Revolution Youth Coalition and youths dismissed from the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as young liberals and leftists.