Egyptian Islamic Labour Party

{{Infobox political party | country = Egypt | founder = [[Ahmed Hussein (1911–1982)|Ahmed Hussein]] [[Ibrahim Shoukry]] | name = Labour Party | native_name = حزب العمل Hizb al-ʿamal | colors = {{Color box|{{party color|Egyptian Islamic Labour Party}}|border=darkgray}} [[Green]] {{colour box|#002D64|border=darkgray}} [[Blue]] | native_name_lang = ar | logo = El3ammal party.png | logo_size = 170px | chairman = | foundation = {{start date|1978}} | headquarters = [[Cairo]] | ideology = {{small|'''Before 1986:'''}} [[Democratic Socialism]] [[Socialism]] {{small|'''After 1986:'''}} [[Islamic socialism]] [[Islamism]] | position = [[Left-wing politics|Left-wing]] | national = [[Anti-Coup Alliance]]<ref name="Mada Masr">{{cite web|url=http://madamasr.com/content/anti-coup-alliance-denies-giving-return-morsi|title=Anti-coup alliance denies giving up on the return of Morsi|work=Mada Masr|date=25 December 2013|access-date=25 December 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421132830/http://www.madamasr.com/content/anti-coup-alliance-denies-giving-return-morsi|archive-date=21 April 2014}}</ref> | slogan = God... the People {{lang|ar|الله... الشعب}} | predecessor = [[Young Egypt Party (1933)|Young Egypt Party]] | newspaper = ''[[Al Shaab (newspaper)|Al Shaab]]'' (currently suspended) | seats1_title = [[House of Representatives (Egypt)|House of Representatives]] | seats1 = {{Composition bar|0|568}} | website = | colorcode = #00802D }} The '''Islamic Labour Party''' ({{langx|ar|حزب العمل الإسلامي|Ḥizb al-ʿamal al-islāmī}}), previously the '''Socialist Labour Party''' ({{langx|ar|حزب العمل الإشتراكي|Ḥizb al-ʿamal al-ishtirākī}}), Commonly known in Egypt as just the '''Labour Party''', is an Egyptian [[Socialism|Socialist]]-turned [[Islamism|Islamist]]-political party.

The party was suspended in 2000, but later joined the [[Democratic Alliance for Egypt]] during the [[2011–12 Egyptian parliamentary election|2011-2012 parliamentary election]]; it gained one seat in the [[People's Assembly of Egypt]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Democratic Alliance (Freedom and Justice)|url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/33/103/26895/Elections-/Electoral-Alliances/Democratic-Alliance.aspx|agency=Ahram Online|date=18 November 2011|access-date=16 December 2013}}</ref>

==History and ideology== The party established on 9 September 1978 by [[Ibrahim Shoukry]]<ref name=map>{{cite web|author=Dina Shehata|title=Mapping Islamic Actors in Egypt|url=http://media.leidenuniv.nl/legacy/mapping-islamic-actors---version-2.2.pdf|publisher=Islam Research Program|access-date=6 October 2014|date=March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927043841/http://media.leidenuniv.nl/legacy/mapping-islamic-actors---version-2.2.pdf|archive-date=27 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> and others. It was originally a [[socialist]] party.<ref name=mer/> The party is the successor of the [[Young Egypt Party (1933)|Masr Al Fattah Movement]], which was founded by Ahmad Hussain in 1933.<ref name=map/>

Initially established as a [[Left-wing politics|Left-wing]] [[Socialism|Socialist]] 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 [[Islamic Alliance (Egypt)|Tahaluf]], with the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] and the [[Liberal Socialists Party (Egypt)|Liberal Socialists Party]].<ref name=mer>{{cite journal|title=Egyptian Political Parties|journal=MERIP|date=July–August 1987|volume=147|issue=17}}</ref> This change was first demonstrated in the party's fifth conference in 1989 which was entitled "Reform from an Islamic perspective".<ref>http://el3amal.worldispnetwork.com/ta3reef.htm {{in lang|ar}} {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050829212127/http://el3amal.worldispnetwork.com/ta3reef.htm |date=August 29, 2005 }}</ref>

The party platform calls for: * Establishing an economic system based on the [[Islam]]ic [[Shari'ah]]. * Protecting the national industries. * Equal distribution of investments among the Egyptian governorates. * Achieving unity between Egypt, [[Sudan]] and [[Libya]]. * Liberating the occupied [[Palestine (region)|Palestinian]] lands. * Promoting ties with developing countries.<ref>{{Cite news|title=The Egyptian Labor Party|url=http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/Templates/Articles/tmpArticles.aspx?ArtID=486|agency=State Information Services|access-date=16 December 2013}}</ref>

===Sadat's suppression of the party=== Before the party was anti-Mubarak, it opposed [[Anwar Sadat]] 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.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Egyptian Political Parties|url=https://www.merip.org/mer/mer147/egyptian-political-parties|agency=Middle East Research and Information Project|date=July–August 1987|access-date=22 January 2015}}</ref>

=== 1990 elections === The party and a few others abstained from the election because of an [[amendment]] to the 1972 Electoral Law forbidding unified lists, with the Socialist Labour Party attempting to combine with the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] in hope to change the [[Muslim Brotherhood]]'s view on Islam in a more leftist way, but this plan failed when they were suspended in 2000. The [[Muslim Brotherhood]] and the Labour Party still remain great allies.

===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 (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.<ref>{{Cite news|title=EOHR condemns committee's decisions against Egypt's Labor Party and its Newspaper|url=http://www.ifex.org/egypt/2000/05/22/eohr_condemns_committee_s_decisions/|agency=Egyptian Organization for Human Rights|date=22 May 2000|access-date=16 December 2013}}</ref>

=== 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.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Arab Unification (Al Tawheed el Araby) Party|url=http://egypt.electionnaire.com/parties/?id=9|agency=Egypt Electionnaire|access-date=7 December 2014}}</ref>

===2011–present=== The party allied with the [[Democratic Alliance for Egypt]] ahead of the [[2011–12 Egyptian parliamentary election]] and gained one seat.

It became part of the [[Anti-Coup Alliance]] following the [[2013 Egyptian coup d'état]].<ref name="Mada Masr"/>

=== Lawsuit against Islamic parties === The ''Egyptian Islamic Labour Party'' is one of the eleven [[Islamic party|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."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/egyptsource/political-islam-s-fate-in-egypt-lies-in-the-hands-of-the-courts |title=Political Islam's Fate in Egypt Lies in the Hands of the Courts |first=Yussef |last=Auf |publisher=[[Atlantic Council]] |date=25 November 2014 |access-date=1 December 2014}}</ref> The Alexandria Urgent Matters Court however ruled on 26 November 2014 that it lacked jurisdiction.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/11/26/court-claims-jurisdiction-religiously-affiliated-parties/|title=Court claims no jurisdiction over religiously affiliated parties|date=26 November 2014|work=[[Daily News Egypt]]|access-date=1 December 2014}}</ref>

==Electoral history==

===People's Assembly elections=== {| class=wikitable style=text-align:center !Election !Seats !+/– |- |[[2011–12 Egyptian parliamentary election|2011–12]] (as part of [[Democratic Alliance for Egypt]]) |{{Composition bar|1|596}} |{{increase}} 1 |}

==See also== * [[List of Islamic political parties]]

==References== {{Reflist|33em}}

==External links== *[https://www.alshaab.com/ alShaab], Labour's party official newspaper currently suspended but is still published online. *[https://web.archive.org/web/20051216092934/http://www.eohr.org/annual/2000/p9.htm] The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights Annual report; Violations of Human Rights 2000–2001; part 9: The right to establish parties, associations & unions.

[[Category:1978 establishments in Egypt]] [[Category:Islamic political parties in Egypt]] [[Category:Islamic socialist political parties]] [[Category:Labour parties]] [[Category:Nationalist parties in Egypt]] [[Category:Political parties established in 1978]] [[Category:Socialist parties in Egypt]]