SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The introduction points out the need for a comprehensive study of the subject, based on both Arabic and European sources. There follows a classification of the sources with a brief analysis of their importance. The first part is devoted to the development of parliamentary institutions. After an outline of its origins, the first Assembly of delegates is described in its powers, achievements and importance. Next follows an appraisal of the growth of self-assertion; in the subsequent Assemblies. Special chapters deal with the work of this institution from 1879 to 1882, with particular attention to attempts to enlarge its powers. Then the influence of the social components of the Assembly on its development is weighed. The next chapter studies the development of parliamentarianism during the first thirty years of the British Occupation. It shows the stages of progress and relapse in the demand for wider powers. An estimate of the short-lived Legislative Assembly follows, and the first part concludes with a chapter on the 1925 constitution and on the 1924 Parliament. The second part deals with the growth of political parties. Study is made of their origins and the progress of the National Party of 'urabi's days and Misr al-fatat is examined. Next Mustafa Kamil's party, Al-hizb al-watani, is described at some length, as it was tne first Egyptian party organized on European lines. The subsequent chapter is devoted to the minor parties of the early twentieth century, most of which sprang up in opposition to Al-hizb al-watani and fought it by its own methods. A large chapter deals with the Wafd and estimates its role in political and parliamentary life. Part two concludes with an account of other post-war parties and their relation to the Wafd, as compared with the relation of the minor parties in the early twentieth century to Al-hizb al-watani. In conclusion, some observations are made on the general character of Egyptian parliaments and parties and the extent of European influence on them.