The Liberal Egyptian Party (, ), formerly Mother Egypt Party, was a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

and

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

political party in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

advocating

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

and

patriotism Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...

. This liberal party was a political party in

until the merger with another liberal party, the Egyptian Democratic Party, to become the

Egyptian Social Democratic Party The Egyptian Social Democratic Party (, ) is a social liberal and social democratic party in Egypt. It was founded after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution by the merger of two minor liberal parties, the Liberal Egyptian Party, and the Egyptian D ...

on 29 March 2011. The party built on previous attempts by native anti-colonial activists in the early 20th century to re-assert ethnic Egyptian identity, based in part on national independence from the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

, the establishment of a secular and democratic national government, and the formalization of the local language. It also sought to revive the indigenous

Egyptian language The Egyptian language, or Ancient Egyptian (; ), is an extinct branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages that was spoken in ancient Egypt. It is known today from a large corpus of surviving texts, which were made accessible to the modern world ...

and to disassociate Egypt from the

Arab nationalist Arab nationalism () is a political ideology asserting that Arabs constitute a single nation. As a traditional nationalist ideology, it promotes Arab culture and civilization, celebrates Arab history, the Arabic language and Arabic literatur ...

policies introduced by

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...

. The Liberal Egyptian Party called for separating religion from politics and most civil affairs. The party also called for capitalism and reducing the influence of the public sector in the economy. In its early history, it called for full normalization with Israel, though this stance was repealed after subsequent alliances with Islamists and leftists. The co-founders of the Liberal Egyptian party were Mahmoud El Pher'oni, from the Assiut Governorate and Cynthia Farahat, an Egyptian-American author.

Ideas and goals

* The application of a liberal democracy in Egypt. * Complete secularization and religious neutrality on a political level. * The reassertion of the Egyptian identity separate from the pan-Arab identity. * Recognizing

Masri Egyptian Arabic, locally known as Colloquial Egyptian, or simply as Masri, is the most widely spoken vernacular Arabic variety in Egypt. It is part of the Afro-Asiatic language family, and originated in the Nile Delta in Lower Egypt. The esti ...

(the colloquial language of the Egyptian people) as the official language of Egypt. * Reviving the

. * Complete religious freedom and protecting the rights of religious minorities to practice their own faith. * Removing the authority of religious scholars to affect political decisions under the pretext of Sharia law. * Ensuring that freedom of opinion, expression and belief extends to all members of Egyptian society.

References

2003 establishments in Egypt 2011 disestablishments in Egypt Political parties established in 2003 Political parties disestablished in 2011 Defunct political parties in Egypt Egyptian nationalist parties Language revival Liberal parties in Egypt Secularism in Egypt Pharaonism {{liberalparty-stub