Cairo: For decades the mammoth building near the Nile stood as a symbol of absolute power in Egypt. Once, it served as the premises of the Socialist Union, the only political party established in the era of late Egyptian president Jamal Abdul Nasser who ruled Egypt from 1954 to 1970.
Later, the building became the headquarters of the National Democratic Party (NDP) that ruled Egypt for more than three decades. The party was created by Nasser’s successor, Anwar Al Sadat, who was assassinated in 1981.
The NDP was then led by president Hosni Mubarak, who was forced to step down in 2011 following a popular revolt.
Located in the vicinity of Tahrir Square, which was the focal point for the anti-Mubarak uprising, the building was the target of protesters’ fury. They set it ablaze on January 28, 2011, dubbed the “Friday of Rage” that marked the peak of the revolt. Since then, voices have demanding that the gutted building be removed, saying that its decrepit condition poses a threat to the Egyptian Museum next door.
Opponents have suggested the building be preserved as a relic of the revolution against Mubarak.
Successive post-revolutionary government inexplicably failed to make a decision on the fate of the headquarters. However, the recently appointed government of Prime Minister Ebrahim Mahlab has ordered the building to be demolished and its land handed over to the Egyptian Museum.
“This decision has come as a result of thorough studies that recommended the removal of the dilapidated building and return of its land to its original owner — the Egyptian Museum,” said Minister of Antiquities Mohammad Ebrahim. “This land was part of the museum when it was established in 1901. But the land was seized from the museum after the 1952 revolution [against King Farouq] where a Cairo municipality was first set up and later the current building was constructed to serve as the headquarters of the Socialist Union,” he added in press remarks.
According to Ebrahim, a committee of experts will be formed to decide on the executive steps to remove the premises in a “proper scientific way” to avoid any damage to the adjacent museum.
In 2006, the state-run Urban Harmony Authority listed the building as part of the country’s heritage. In reaction to the cabinet’s decision, the agency has said that under the law no governmental institution has the right to demolish a listed building.
‘Unsafe’
But to Minister Ebrahim, the structure has no historical or architectural distinction. “In its present condition, the building is a threat to the Egyptian Museum on which it can lean at any minute. It is unsafe to keep it standing like this.”
He added that the land would be used to expand the museum. “The land can be used as an open-air museum or an exhibition hall to display many artefacts.”
To Shaker Salah, an architect, the minister’s argument is indefensible.
“The NDP building is now a testimony to the greatest revolution in Egypt’s modern history,” he said. “The building should not be demolished. It should be preserved for the next generations to see a reminder of this revolution. With some well-executed restoration, the building can remain in existence. It can be even publicised as a global attraction for foreign visitors,” Salah added. “Annexing it to the museum in Tahrir is unnecessary in view of the fact that the government is building a larger alternative museum near the Giza Pyramids.”
Agreeing, Salman Rashad, a revolutionary activist, claims that the planned demolition of the building is part of a campaign to “obliterate” the history of the anti-Mubarak revolt.
“In recent months, several of the fulool shamelessly appeared on TV screens to say that the revolution is an American conspiracy,” Rashad said, using a derogatory term referring to remnants of the Mubarak regime.
“It is no surprise now that they want to obliterate the building that stigmatises Mubarak and his era,” he said. “It is necessary to keep the building with its burnt-out facade to remind every tyrant that one day he will be brought down.”
The NDP itself was dissolved by an Egyptian court a few months after Mubarak’s ouster. However, some stalwarts in the now-defunct party have signalled an intention to run in the parliamentary election due next year.
