Ittihad Party

Ittihad Party

حزب الاتحاد
Ittihad Party حزب الاتحاد
Founder	Mohamed Tawfik Naseem Pasha
Founded	1924
Dissolved	1936
Split from	Wafd Party
Headquarters	Al-Azhar Mosque, Cairo
Newspaper	Al-Ittihad; Al-Shab al-Masri
Ideology	Egyptian nationalism; Islamic democracy; Traditionalism
Political position	Right-wing
Religion	Sunni Islam
International affiliation	Muslim Brotherhood (1928–36)
Colours	Blue
	Politics of Egypt; Political parties; Elections;

Ittihad is separate and distinct from Union Party.

The Ittihad Party or Union Party ("Ettihad Party", Arabic: حزب الاتحاد, Hizb al-Ittihad) was a Islamist political party active in the Kingdom of Egypt.

The party was founded by a group of ulamas with royalist and islamist ideas that legitimized the Sir Lee Stack's assassination in 1924. This group was composed also by young future political leaders like Muhammad Hamid Abu al-Nasr and Aly Maher Pasha.^[2] The ideological values were entrencheds in the Egyptian "traditional" culture. The party was gather in the Al-Azhar Mosque. The Ittihad was financially supported by King Fuad I and British agents, that trusted that the Ittihad would have destabilized the activities of the left-wing radicals. Nevertheless, the Ittihad failed in his goal of built a conservative party, due to his religious views. Its platform was composed mainly by teachers, farmers, ulamas and imams.

The party program was:^[2]

Dignified positions of the religious authorities
Better resources for the Egyptian monarchy
Monopoly over the distribution of public and private endowments
Creation of the Awqaf
Strong social values and solidarity
Anti-Western policies

The Ittihad was also tutelaged by Hassan al-Banna's Muslim Brotherhood. After this alliance, the Ittihad became mostly active against Copts, and refused the French Revolution, reputed as anarchy, supported a strong authoritarian state.^[1] Despite his low electoral results, he party took over the governments of Egypt in 1930s thanks the support of independent politicians present in the House of Representatives.

The party hasn't been a long life and in 1936 was dissolved. Its member adhered mainly to Wafd Party and Muslim Brotherhood.

Electoral results

House of Representatives elections

Election	Party leader	Seats	+/–	Position
1926	Mohamed Tawfik Naseem Pasha	10 / 215	10	3rd

References

^ ^a ^b James Whidden (2013). Monarchy and Modernity in Egypt: Politics, Islam and Neo-Colonialism Between the Wars. I.B. Tauris. p. 235.
^ ^a ^b Goldschmidt, Arthur; Johnson,Amy J. (1 August 2005). Re-Envisioning Egypt 1919–1952. Hardcover.

[Whidden-1] James Whidden (2013). Monarchy and Modernity in Egypt: Politics, Islam and Neo-Colonialism Between the Wars. I.B. Tauris. p. 235.

[Re-Envisioning-2] Goldschmidt, Arthur; Johnson,Amy J. (1 August 2005). Re-Envisioning Egypt 1919–1952. Hardcover.

[1]

[2]

v t e Historical parties in Egypt
Communist & Socialist	Arab Socialist Union Egyptian Communist Party Egyptian Communist Party (ar-Rayat ash-Sha'ab) Liberation Rally National Union Unified Egyptian Communist Party United Egyptian Communist Party Workers and Peasants Communist Party
Liberal	Democratic Front Party Freedom Party Liberal Constitutional Party Liberal Egyptian Party Liberal Socialists Party Saadist Institutional Party Social Peace Party
Centrist	Egypt Revival Party Egyptian Arab Union Party Egyptian Citizen Party Egyptian Current Party Justice Party National Democratic Party
Conservative	National Party Wafd Party Young Egypt Party
Islamist	Democratic Jihad Party Egyptian Nation Party Ittihad Party