Egypt’s military leaders are expected to hold a referendum on constitutional change in March and a parliamentary election in June, prior to a presidential poll. Here are some details on some of the political parties which may contest new elections:
* NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY (NDP)
— The leadership of the former ruling party resigned on Feb. 5, including Gamal Mubarak, the son of deposed president Hosni Mubarak. Veteran member Hossam Badrawi was named as secretary-general but he resigned days later, saying Egypt needed new parties.
— The NDP was established in 1976 by former President Anwar Sadat and has dominated elected institutions, winning majorities ranging from 75 percent to 95 percent in every parliamentary vote since 1979. The party was also entrenched in other state institutions.
— The party was one of the main targets of the uprising that toppled Mubarak. Its headquarters near Tahrir Square and many provincial branch offices were burned down or ransacked by angry protesters.
— While the top leadership of the party is no longer in the picture, the NDP still has a strong base in local councils across the provinces. Longstanding business networks and extended family loyalties could help party members win seats.
— In the absence of real opposition, NDP members have enjoyed years of unrivalled dominance and may be the only politicians recognised by many voters, who in Egypt are more used to choosing personalities over policies.
* TAGAMMU PARTY
— The Tagammu Party was established in 1976 as the leftist faction of the former Arab Socialist Union and founded by Khaled Moheiddin, one of the Free Officers in the 1952 coup.
— The party was formed to represent a diverse coalition of groups including Nasserists, Marxists, and Arab nationalists.
— The party is now led by Chairman Mohammed Rifat al-Saeed. The party once enjoyed strong support from the working class, professional unions, universities, and intellectuals, but its influence has waned after critics said Tagammu cooperated too closely with Mubarak’s party rather than acting in opposition.
* WAFD PARTY
— The New Wafd Party founded in 1978, after Sadat opened up the space for political party formation after years of suspending parties after the 1952 military coup, actually has its roots in 1920s Egypt.
— Wafd, literally meaning “delegation”, is one of the oldest parties in the country. Its founder Saad Zaghloul led negotiations with the British, leading to the declaration of Egypt as an independent state in 1922.
— Wafd has traditionally been the bastion of liberal democrats in Egypt.
— Historically, the party enjoyed the support of business elites and Coptic Christians. However, more recently it has been seen as having been co-opted by Mubarak’s government.
— The party advocates an economic open-door policy, price stabilisation, and a strong public sector.
* MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD
— The Muslim Brotherhood said it would set up the “Freedom and Justice Party” to run in elections, underlining its move into the heart of Egyptian politics.
— The Islamist group has emerged from years of suppression by Mubarak as Egypt’s only real political force. It has been playing an ever more assertive role since he was toppled from power on Feb. 11.
— The Brotherhood has gone out of its way to reassure Egyptians worried about its political strength, saying it will not seek the presidency or a parliamentary majority in the democratic elections the military rulers are promising to hold.
— Founded in 1928, the Brotherhood has said its new party will be open to everyone, including members of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority. The movement says it is committed to a pluralistic, democratic, Islamic state in Egypt.
— Leading members of the group have said it could win up to 30 percent of the vote in a future parliamentary election.
* GHAD (TOMORROW) PARTY
— Al-Ghad was established in 2004 by Ayman Nour, a former New Wafd parliament member after a dispute with Wafd’s former leader, Noman Gomaa. On the formation of Ghad, 25 percent of the party’s members were thought to be Wafdists.
— Nour was Mubarak’s main rival in the 2005 presidential election, but came a distant second after a vote that rights groups said was riddled with abuses. He was then jailed over charges of forging members’ documents, a case he said was trumped up.
* DEMOCRATIC FRONT PARTY
— Founded in 2007 by Osama Ghazali Harb, an intellectual and former NDP member, and Yehia al-Gamal, a constitutional law expert and now serving as Egypt’s deputy prime minister, and Anwar al-Sadat, a former independent member of parliament.
— The party was founded with the platform of promoting liberal and secular principles to balance religious conservatism with a slogan of “freedom and justice in a civil nation.”
— Harb joined up with potential presidential contender Mohamed ElBaradei in the National Coalition for Change in 2010 in circulating a petition calling for constitutional reforms.
* WASAT PARTY
— A Cairo court on Feb. 19 approved a new political party that had sought a license for 15 years, making it the first to be recognised since Mubarak’s overthrow and illustrating the political earthquake shaking the new Egypt.
— The Wasat Party (Centre Party) had tried to gain an official licence four times since 1996, but each time its application was rejected by a committee chaired by a leading member of the ruling party, a procedure that stifled opposition.
— Its founder Abou Elela Mady said that it had been powered by “the winds of freedom that blew with the revolution”.
* KEFAYA
— Respected trade union leader George Ishak founded the Kefaya movement in 2004 that galvanised protests against Mubarak’s rule in 2005 around the idea of rejecting his son Gamal as a future president. The movement, which appealed to professionals, subsequently lost its momentum amid internal dissent but was re-invigorated by protests to oust Mubarak.
* THE ARAB DEMOCRATIC NASSERIST PARTY
— It was established in 1992 with the goal of maintaining the goals of the 1952 revolution. The party endorses Arab nationalism, socialism, and other ideals associated with former president Gamal Abdel Nasser. The party has a small membership base of about 3,000 but its newspaper al-Arabi is widely circulated and has editorials from influential writers.
* THE ISLAMIC RENAISSANCE PARTY
— The party has some 5,000 members, mostly from the conservative Salafist Muslim trend.
* THE UNION FOR FREEDOM PARTY
— Announced by Islamist lawyer Muntasir al-Zayyat in 2009. It has over 900 members.
Sources: Reuters/Carnegie Endowment/BBC Monitoring/Al Wafd/State Information Service