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Egypt THE AFTERMATH OF THE WAR
Internal Relations
Egypt's losses in the war were enormous: approximately 10,000
soldiers and 1,500 officers killed, 5,000 soldiers and 500
officers captured, 80 percent of military equipment destroyed.
Sinai was under Israeli control, and the Suez Canal was blocked
and closed to shipping.
On June 9, Nasser spoke on television and took full
responsibility for the debacle. He resigned as president, but the
Egyptian people poured into the streets to demonstrate their
support for him. The cabinet and the National Assembly voted not
to accept the resignation, and Nasser withdrew it.
Soon after the cease-fire, there was a broad shake-up in the
military and the government. Field Marshal Amir and Minister of
Defense Badran, who had been chosen for the post by Amir, were
forced to resign. General Muhammad Fawzi became commander in
chief, and Nasser retained the position of supreme commander. On
June 19, Nasser enlarged his political powers by assuming the
role of prime minister. He named a twenty-eight-member cabinet
and took control of the ASU as secretary general. Ali Sabri, the
vice president and secretary general of the ASU until that time,
was named deputy prime minister in the new cabinet.
On August 25, 1967, Amir and fifty other high-ranking
military and civilian officials were arrested and accused of
plotting to overthrow Nasser. Approximately two weeks later, the
government announced that Amir, who was once considered Nasser's
closest associate among the Free Officers, had committed suicide
by taking poison while under house arrest.
In March 1968, widespread demonstrations by students and
workers broke out in Cairo, Alexandria, and the industrial town
of Hulwan. The demonstrations were provoked by the decision of a
military tribunal that convicted two air force commanders of
negligence in the June 1967 War and acquitted two others. The
demonstrators demanded stiffer sentences for the four officers. A
sit-in by students at Cairo University ended only when the
government promised to retry the officers and released arrested
demonstrators.
Although the decision of the military tribunal was the
immediate cause of the demonstrations, the underlying cause was
popular frustration with the government repression over the
preceding sixteen years and the lack of popular participation in
the government. Nasser declared his desire to satisfy popular
demands and promised to present a plan of action. The new plan,
approved by a referendum in May, called for a new constitution
that would reform the ASU, grant parliament control over the
government, and allow greater personal and press freedom. Popular
elections were to be held for the National Assembly.
Nasser's reform of the existing political system was
instituted through the formulation of new laws and the election
of new members to all of the organs of the ASU. This initial
phase of his plan was completed during October 1968, with the
election of the reorganized Supreme Executive Committee (SEC) of
the ASU. Only eight people received the required majority of
votes, and the election of the remaining two members was
postponed. The SEC organized itself into five permanent
committees: political affairs, chaired by Anwar as Sadat;
administration, chaired by Ali Sabri; internal affairs, chaired
by Abdul Muhsin Abu an Nur; economic development, chaired by
Muhammad Labib Shuqayr; and culture and information, chaired by
Diya Muhammad Daud. Nasser headed the SEC, and its three
remaining members were Husayn ash Shafii, General Muhammad Fawzi,
and Kamal Ramzi Stinu.
This reorganization proved unsatisfactory to those who had
hoped for an expansion of freedom and democracy. Thus, in
November, demonstrations broke out again with cries of "Nasser
resign" reported. Several demonstrators were killed or wounded in
clashes with the police. Universities and secondary schools were
again closed. The demonstrators were expressing popular
frustration over the failure of the government to implement the
program approved by the referendum. Nasser apparently was
unwilling or unable to widen popular participation in the
government.
Data as of December 1990
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