Sarwat's Treaty

The denial of democratic sovereignty which Great Britain imposes upon Egypt became, last week, once more glaringly apparent.

Prime Minister Abdel Khalek Sarwat Pasha attained the focus of interest when he recently submitted to party leaders the draft treaty which he negotiated in London, during King Fuad's visit there (TIME, July 18).

Styled a "Treaty of Alliance," the new pact contains important British concessions. The trouble is, from an Egyptian point of view, that Prime Minister Sarwat does not represent the majority party of Egypt, the indomitable Wafd, once headed by the late famed Saad Zaghlul Pasha. Whenever the Wafd votes down a cabinet and seeks, as the majority party, to assume power, one or more British warships are usually in evidence to menace Egyptian harbors.

The result is that British Might, made articulate by the British High Commissioner to Egypt, George Ambrose Lloyd, Baron Lloyd of Dolobran, is able to force the Wafd to tolerate as Prime Minister a statesman like Sarwat Pasha who is acceptable to Downing Street.

Last week the "Treaty of Alliance" raised the question whether the Wafd, with a clear majority in the Chamber, could be forced to accept what Britain is willing to give.

Before attempting to deal with this politically impossible situation, it seemed prudent for Sarwat Pasha to divest himself somewhat of his pro-British taint. This he attempted to do by the bold if paradoxical move of reporting to Baron Lloyd that the Egyptian Cabinet had totally rejected the treaty.

At the High Commissioner's residence, Lord Lloyd, suave, impeccably clad and steelyeyed, received Sarwat's report with quiet understanding. From the High Commissioner's presence the Prime Minister went forth to his thankless task of trying to persuade the Wafd, now led by little known Mustafa El Nahass Pasha, that it must again knuckle under.

After several days of negotiations, the Wafd demanded and obtained as a minimum sop to its prestige, the resignation of Sarwat and his cabinet. Prognostications were that Nahass Pasha would again attempt to force the creation of a Wafd cabinet, and might possibly be permitted to succeed if he would convey a secret pledge of "good behavior" to Baron Lloyd.

Meanwhile the treaty text was not made public, but it was understood to involve a relaxation of British influence throughout Egypt proper, in exchange for more complete extension of British authority in the Sudan.