Sadat in Trouble

Challenges from left and center

"I will crush anyone who creates doubt." So said Egyptian President Anwar Sadat as he called for a nationwide referendum to take place this week. Although his position was bolstered by the U.S. Senate action approving the sale to Egypt of 50 American-made F-5E fighter jets, Sadat is locked in a battle with opponents from both the left and the center of Egyptian politics, who challenge both his diplomacy and his domestic policies. TIME Cairo Bureau Chief Wilton Wynn reports on the increasing tension:

President Sadat proposed a referendum on whether Egypt should continue to allow political activity by 1) those who "advocate an ideology contrary to divine law," and 2) those who in previous times were convicted of "corrupting the country's political life." His targets were obvious: 1) a small but active leftist party, and 2) the leaders of the re-emerging Wafd (delegation) Party, which dominated the country in the days of King Farouk.

Opposition activity has grown in direct proportion to the fading of the euphoria generated by Sadat's historic mission to Jerusalem. The problems facing overpopulated Egypt--poverty, inflation, corruption, inadequate housing and public transport--are so enormous that no government can begin to solve them, at least in the short run. Now that Sadat's peace initiative has stalled, critics of his pro-American policy are starting to exploit the country's endemic problems as a way of rallying the opposition.

Complaints are not ordinarily aimed directly at Sadat but at prominent people close to him. Among the prime targets is Osman Ahmed Osman, the millionaire contractor whose son Mahmud is married to Sadat's daughter Jihan. Osman has a brilliant record as a builder--he was chief contractor for the Aswan High Dam, and did much of the reconstruction of the ruined Suez Canal zone--but his vast wealth and his influence over Sadat invite attacks by the opposition, mainly on corruption charges. Because Osman is his closest friend and adviser, Sadat knows that these attacks are really aimed at him.

The most outspoken of the opposition parties is the National Progressive Unionist Party, a grouping of Marxists and socialists led by Khaled Mohieddin, who was known as the "Red Major" when he was a member of Gamal Abdel Nasser's Revolutionary Command Council. Among the leftist charges: much of the $10 billion given to Egypt by Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich Arab states since 1973 has never reached the people; a bribe of $1.5 million was paid to a government official to get a hotel project started near the Pyramids; the army sold a plane, a gift from another Arab state, to an influential Egyptian at half its value. The government has routinely denied the charges.

By contrast, the Wafd Party, which was reborn only three months ago, has been restrained in criticizing Sadat. But during a hotly contested by-election campaign in Alexandria this month, Wafd Leader Fuad Serageddin spoke for three hours as thousands cheered, giving the impression that he would soon mount a serious challenge to the regime. It was the-Wafd that led Egypt's struggle for independence from the British after World War I and often clashed with Farouk in attempting to limit the powers of the monarchy. After Nasser came to power in 1952, the Wafd was banned, along with other parties, and many of its leaders were imprisoned. Its re-emergence inevitably increases the pressure on the present government.

It is not clear how far Sadat is prepared to go in cracking down on his critics. He is afraid that the present "campaigns of doubt" could return the country to the chaos of the past, and he is disturbed about the recent leftist coup in Afghanistan and the continuing rioting in Iran. On the other hand, he has worked hard to earn a reputation as a liberal who has restored a multiparty system and political freedom after the Nasser dictatorship, and he does not want to tarnish that image.

The best solution for Sadat's domestic problems would be a resounding success for his peace initiative. But at the moment he has no remaining cards to play in pushing the negotiating process. The F-5E sale helps him, to be sure, but its value will be short-lived unless the U.S. can come up with its own peace plan and promote it vigorously. Otherwise, the political freedom gained by Egyptians since Sadat came to power is likely to be eroded as the President takes action to retain order over the threat of chaos.

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