Wafd

Wafd , in modern Egyptian history, a political party. It arose out of the delegation [Arabic wafd =delegation] headed by Zaghlul Pasha that was to have visited Great Britain in 1918 to urge Egypt's independence. Zaghlul formed the party in 1919. In addition to espousing independence, the Wafdists called for extensive social and economic reforms.

In the first parliament elected (1924) under the constitution of 1923, the Wafd won a large majority. King Fuad I , who bitterly opposed the party, dissolved parliament and would not call a new election until 1926. Again the Wafd won, and in 1928 its new leader, Nahas Pasha , became prime minister. That year the government introduced a measure forbidding the king to rule without parliament. Fuad, asserting that this would give the Wafd absolute control of the country, refused his assent and suspended the constitution. Nevertheless, in 1930 the Wafd was again victorious. Fuad soon dismissed the new cabinet and appointed a conservative prime minister, who made the party illegal.

When the constitution of 1923 was restored in 1935, the Wafd returned to power. They formed the cabinet in 1936-37. Relations with the new king, Farouk , were scarcely more cordial than those with his father. In World War II the party, which was anti-Axis, was installed in office from 1942 to 1944 at the insistence of Great Britain, which feared pro-Axis elements. In the elections of 1950 the Wafd triumphed again, and Nahas Pasha returned as prime minister. The party lost much of its popularity because of charges of corruption and the support it had given the British during the war.

On Jan. 26, 1952, King Farouk took advantage of riots in Cairo to dismiss the Wafd from power. When the Egyptian revolution took place in July, 1952, Wafd politicians were discredited, and the party was forced to disband. The New Wafd party, established in 1978, had parliamentary representation in the 1980s but boycotted several elections in the 1990s. The rise of Islamic militants had by the 2005 parliamentary elections resulted in the Muslim Brotherhood becoming the main opposition group, and in Jan., 2006, reformers won control of the Wafd. Tensions between the old guard and reformers led to a gun battle at Wafd party headquarters in Apr., 2006.

Bibliography: See Z. M. Quraishi, Liberal Nationalism in Egypt (1967).

Wafd (al-Wafd al-Misri) (Egypt) Egypt's main nationalist party was founded in 1923 by Saghlul Sa'd, after he had led an unsuccessful delegation (wafd) to demand independence from the British Empire after World War I. It won an overwhelming election victory in the 1923 elections for the Chamber of Deputies, though it was consistently opposed by King Fuad, who at first refused to appoint a Wafdist government. However, the party continued to thrive with overwhelming electoral support. Tight parliamentary organization under its leader from 1927, al-Nahhas, increased its strength further. It finally came to power briefly in 1929, but was soon affected by divisions over its response to the Great Depression. Although primarily opposed to British rule, it spent most of its energy on its incessant feuds with the King, even to the point of contradicting its principles in 1941, when it returned to government with the help of the British. In power, it was weakened by corruption, and thus unable to respond to Egypt's growing domestic political instability. It was dismissed from power in 1952, six months before King Farouk was deposed by Nasser.

Wafd (in full Wafd al-Misri; Arabic, ‘Egyptian Delegation’) Egyptian nationalist party. Under the leadership of Zaghlul Pasha it demanded freedom from British rule. When Egypt won nominal independence in 1922, the Wafd demanded full autonomy and control of the SUDAN and the SUEZ CANAL. After 1924 there were frequent Wafdist governments, in conflict with the monarchy. In 1930 the constitution was suspended and Egypt became a royal dictatorship until the Wafdists succeeded in restoring the constitution in 1935. In 1950 the Wafd formed a one-party cabinet and the struggle between King FAROUK and his government intensified. The monarchy fell in 1952 and the new Revolutionary Command Council under Colonel Gamal NASSER dissolved all political parties.