Egyptian Communist Party Joins Public May 1st Events

From: A-lmasry Al-youm

The Egyptian Communist Party on Sunday announced that it would openly resume its activities and submit documents necessary for registering the party with the Committee for Political Parties' Affairs.

At a news conference in Tahrir Square on Sunday, party Chairman Salah al-Adly said that the 25 January revolution allowed the party to resume its work publicly after years of secrecy.

Adly went on to say that for decades, the Communist Party members had been exposed to "all types of repression, and arrests under false charges such as blasphemy and atheism."

He added that the party chose Tahrir Square on the occasion of Workers Day in order to “emphasize its alignment with the working class and Egypt’s poor."

He pointed out that the party’s main objectives are “achieving the revolution's demands by drafting a constitution for a civil state, rather than a religious or military one, which is based on democracy, and in which socialism and social justice are achieved.“

Adly said the party respects all religions, arguing that “charges of blasphemy leveled by the former regime were baseless.”

He said communists “believe in freedom of religion, which achieves equality between all citizens."

The party was established as a Marxist-Leninist organization in 1922 and operated secretly between 1924 and the mid-1960s, when it was dissolved. The party was reestablished in 1975.

Three leftist parties recently announced that they will conduct their activities in the open.

Since the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak’s regime, several previously banned groups have announced their intention to form parties without seeking official permission to do so.

Translated from the Arabic Edition