National Salvation Front (Egypt)

The National Salvation Front[1] (also known as the National Front for Salvation of the Revolution or the National Rescue Front, Arabic: جبهة الإنقاذ الوطني)[2] is an alliance of Egyptian political parties, formed to defeat Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's 22 November 2012 constitutional declaration.[3] The National Front for Salvation of the Revolution has more than 35 groups involved overall.[4] Observers are concerned that the NSF will not be able to become a coherent political force because the different parties agree on opposing Morsi, but their views on other subjects diverge.[5]

National Salvation Front
(also known as National Front for Salvation of the Revolution or the National Rescue Front)
LeaderAmr Moussa
Hamdeen Sabahi
Founded24 November 2012
HeadquartersCairo
IdeologySecularism
Political positionBig tent
Affiliated partiesmore than 35
This article is part of
a series about
Mohamed Morsi

Presidency

Government

Post-coup unrest in Egypt (2013–2014)

Supporters

Opponents

Family

The front issued three demands to Morsi during the 2012 Egyptian protests. The demands were: that the constitutional declaration be rescinded, that the referendum be called off, and that a new constituent assembly be formed.[6]

Morsi announced that one decree, granting him unlimited power to make laws without judicial review, had been annulled as of 8 December 2012, but the constitutional referendum went ahead as planned for 15 and 22 December.[7]

After the ouster of Morsi by the Egyptian military, a number of politicians from the National Salvation Front were moved into power, including three women.

The coalition held a meeting on 2 February 2014 to determine its future;[8] it decided to continue its work.[9] One commentator named Bassem Aly has stated that the alliance "collapsed" following the ouster of Morsi.[10]

Affiliated parties

The front is mainly secular and ranges from liberals to leftists.[11] Some of them are as follows:

Key figures

Key figures of the Front include Hamdeen Sabahi, Amr Moussa and Hussein Abdul Ghani.[11] Sameh Ashour, another leading figure, is the spokesperson for the Front.[11]

Criticisms

The coalition was criticized by the student members of the Constitution Party, Socialist Popular Alliance, and the Egyptian Popular Current for having members of the former regime (known as feloul). They are pushing their parties to leave the coalition.[3] Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, the head of the Strong Egypt Party, said that he will not join the coalition because he would never join forces with former regime members.[17] Akram Ismail, who is an activist and a former member of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party,[18] argued the distinction between feloul and non-feloul did not matter, stating that "the battle now is between the oppressive Islamist alliance and the ascending democratic force".[17]

Khaled Dawoud resigned as a spokesperson for the National Salvation Front on 16 August 2013 in protest at the support of police violence against Mohamed Morsi supporters by the NSF.[19]

References
  1. "Egypt's Baradei to address Tahrir rally, list demands of new 'National Front'", Al-Ahram, 30 November 2012, retrieved 12 December 2013
  2. "National Rescue Front condemns referendum", Daily News Egypt, 3 December 2012, retrieved 12 December 2013
  3. "Youth of anti-Morsi parties reject coalition with 'Mubarak remnants'", Al-Ahram, 28 November 2012, retrieved 12 December 2013
  4. "Strong Egypt takes a separate stand". Daily News Egypt. 27 November 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  5. Hans Dembowski interviewed Yasser Alwan (January 2013). "Jobs are very hard to find". D+C Development and Cooperation/ dandc.eu.
  6. "Opposition marches condemn the violence". Daily News Egypt. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  7. "Morsi's decree cancelled, constitution referendum to take place on time". Al-Ahram. 9 December 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  8. "NSF meeting will decide whether to disband or continue". Cairo Post. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  9. "NSF decides to remain intact". Daily News Egypt. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  10. "Egypt's fragile political parties and social movements". Your Middle East. 4 April 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  11. "Profile: Egypt's National Salvation Front". BBC. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  12. ""الإنقاذ الوطنى" تعلن حالة الانعقاد الدائم لحين إسقاط إعلان مرسى". Youm7. 26 November 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  13. "Salvation Front members decide to sit together in Shura Council meetings". Egypt Independent. 14 January 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  14. "Strong Egypt Party holds meetings over parliamentary elections". Daily News Egypt. 16 January 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  15. "Live updates 2: Millions on streets for anti-Morsi protests; 4 dead in Upper Egypt", Al-Ahram, 30 June 2013, retrieved 12 December 2013
  16. "Mansour presents proposed amendments to elections law for debate", Daily News Egypt, 30 January 2014, retrieved 30 January 2014
  17. "Civil groups' pounce into political space seen as pro-democracy triumph", Egypt Independent, 29 November 2012, retrieved 12 December 2013
  18. "Social Popular Alliance Party shaken by 304 resignations". Daily News Egypt. 9 November 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  19. "NSF says Egypt facing attempts by Muslim Brotherhood to overthrew state", Al-Ahram, 19 August 2013, retrieved 12 December 2013
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