With the Right to Political Organization: Standing in Solidarity with Our Colleagues in the Bread and Freedom Party

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

The Revolutionary Socialists Movement opposes the state’s actions against our colleagues in the Bread and Freedom Party, which is currently being established. Recently, the state has not only excelled in arresting members of the Bread and Freedom Party at every political event, subjecting them to persecution, and frequently sentencing them to imprisonment—especially comrade Gamal Abdel Hakim—but it is now summoning the party’s founding agents and accusing them of creating an illegal party, to suppress them or prepare for a broader arrest campaign.

We see these repressive actions as part of the state’s security strategy, which aims to shut down every political and party activity attempt. This crackdown has targeted party leaders, journalists, and writers, even in violation of the state’s laws. According to the Egyptian political parties law, political parties can be formed and operate under provisional status until they gather 5,000 endorsements for official recognition. This process requires publicizing the party’s formation, something the founders of the Bread and Freedom Party are actively doing.

We fully stand with our comrades in the Bread and Freedom Party and urge all fighting forces and supporters of the January 25 Revolution to show solidarity with the party in the coming days. We need to provide them full support during this systematic security crackdown by the state, which continues the oppressive practices the state routinely uses against opposition parties in Egypt to intimidate dissenters. This began with the arrest of the president of the Strong Egypt Party and his deputy, leading to the party’s suspension, and now continues with the Bread and Freedom Party.

The Revolutionary Socialists Movement calls for everyone to unite to support the Bread and Freedom Party. This latest move by the state is just another step in its ongoing effort to stifle political parties and activities in general. This systematic oppression affects all parties and political movements, so all activists must take a clear and united stand against the state’s efforts to close off public and political space in Egypt.