CAIRO, 10 October 2005 — Ten Egyptian groups, including liberals, leftists and the Kefaya (Enough) protest movement, have joined forces to fight the ruling party in parliamentary elections next month, members said yesterday.
The new alliance, the National Front for Political and Constitutional Change, could pose a serious challenge to many candidates from the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), which now holds over 90 percent of parliamentary seats.
The unrecognized Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest opposition group, is part of the electoral alliance but, unlike the nine other groups, its candidates will not stand on a single opposition list, the deputy leader of the group said. The alliance includes most of the significant opposition forces, ranging from leftists such as the Tagammu Party to the traditional liberal Wafd Party, Arab nationalists such as the Nasserites, and some moderate Islamists.
Talks are under way to bring in the liberal Ghad (Tomorrow) Party of Ayman Nour.
