Mostafa el-Nahas
 |
Mostafa el-Nahas Pasha مصطفى النحاس باشا | |
|---|---|
Hussein Serry Pasha | |
| Succeeded by | Aly Maher Pasha |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 15, 1879 Alexandria, Egypt |
| Political party | Wafd Party |
Mostafa el-Nahas Pasha or Mostafa Nahas (
politician who served as the Prime Minister for five terms.Early life, education and exile
He was born in Samanud (
Political history
He became minister for communications in 1924. Reelected in 1926 as a deputy from Sir Abu Nanna (Gharbiyya) and barred by the British from taking another cabinet post, he was elected one of the Chamber's two vice presidents and, in 1927, its president. Upon Sa'd Zaghlul's death in August 1927, he defeated Sa'd's nephew in the contest to lead the Wafd Party.
He served as
Nahas fell out with his patron, Makram Ebeid who was serving as the Finance minister and expelled him from the Wafd and the cabinet at the instigation of his wife.[3] Ebeid retaliated with The Black Book, a detailed expose published in the spring of 1943 listing 108 cases of major corruption involving Nahas and his wife.[3] Ebeid accused Nahas of having the Egyptian embassy in London buy expensive silver-fox fur coats for his wife with government funds; of confiscating a school in the Garden City area of Cairo to turn into his personal office; of using government money to irrigate land in the desert owned by his cousin; and of abusing his position as prime minister to pressure landowners in the Nile delta to sell farmland to him.[3] Against Madame Nahas, Ebeid accused her of engaging in insider trading on the Alexandria cotton exchange and of pressuring her husband to appoint members of her family to high offices of state that they were not qualified for.[3] Even Lampson wrote in his diary that "the so-called book does seem to contain pretty damaging evidence".[3] His wife died two years after his death in 1967. His and her cemetery are located in the Elwakil yard in Basateen, Cairo.He also helped found the Arab League in 1944.
In 1950, in a volte-face that stunned observers of Egyptian politics, Karim Thabet of King Farouk's "kitchen cabinet" arranged an alliance between the king and Nahas Pasha.[4] The U.S ambassador Jefferson Caffery reported to Washington:
"The proposal was that the King would receive Nahas in private audience prior to summoning a Wafd government and that if the King were not satisfied by his conversation with Nahas, Nahas gave his word or honor that he would retire from the leadership of the Wafd Party as an "elder statesmen" and that the King would then be free to choose any of the younger Wafd leaders in whom he had confidence. The King agreed to this proposal and was completely captivated by Nahas, who tactfully started the interview by swearing that his one desire in life was to kiss the King's hand and to remain always worthy in His Majesty's opinion of being allowed to repeat the performance. At this point Nahas went on his knees before the King who according to Thabet was so charmed that he assisted him to his feet with the words, "Rise, Mr. Prime Minister"".[4]
Caffery reported in his cable to Washington that he was appalled that Nahas, whom Caffery called the most stupid and corrupt politician in Egypt, was now prime minister.[5] Caffery stated that Nahas was unqualified to be prime minister because of his "completely total ignorance of the facts of life as they apply to the situation today", giving the example:
"Most observers are willing to concede that Nahas knows of the existence of Korea, but I have found no one who would be willing to seriously contend that he is aware of the fact that Korea borders on Red China. His ignorance is as colossal as it is appalling...At the time of my interview with Nahas he was totally unconscious of the subject which I was discussing. The only ray of light which penetrated was the fact that I wanted something from him. This prompted the street politician's response of "aidez-nous et nous vous aiderons".[5]
Caffery stated that Nahas's French (the language of the Egyptian elite) was "of dubious quality" and he spoke a colloquial Egyptian Arabic more appropriate to the streets than the high society of Cairo.[5] Caffery called Nahas a venal "street politician" whose only platform was the "tried and true formula of 'Evacuation and Unity of the Nile Valley'" and stated the only positive aspect of him as prime minister was that "we can get anything which we want from him if we are willing to pay for it".[5]
Nahas's government was extremely corrupt and in year 1951 alone Madame Nahas had acquired ownership of one thousand acres of farmland in the Nile Delta, which was ideal for growing cotton and made her into an extremely rich woman.[6] The Korean War caused a shortfall in the American cotton production as young men were called up for national service, causing a cotton boom in Egypt.[7] As the international prices for cotton rose, Egyptian landlords forced their tenant farmers to grow more cotton at the expense of food, leading to major food shortages and inflation in Egypt.[7] Nahas passed a law forbidding Egyptian farmers to grow wheat, which would done something to reduce the food shortages and the consequent inflation, as he and his wife personally benefited from the high international prices for cotton.[6]
Nahas promised in early 1951 a Five Year Plan to provide a $20 million US dollars for a universal pension system plus money for improved education, clean drinking water, and better roads, but nothing came of the plan while the corruption continued unabated.
As the British refused to leave their base around the Suez Canal, the Egyptian government cut off the water and refused to allow food into the Suez Canal base, announced a boycott of British goods, forbade Egyptian workers to enter the base and sponsored guerrilla attacks, turning the area around the Suez Canal into a low level war zone.
After the
Honours
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Egyptian national honours
| Ribbon bar | Honour |
|---|---|
|
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Nile |
_-_ribbon_bar.gif){kind=small}
|
Grand Cordon of the Order of Muhammad Ali |
|
Grand Cordon of the Order of Ismail |
Foreign honors
| Ribbon bar | Country | Honour |
|---|---|---|
 |
Ethiopian Empire | Grand Cordon of the Order of Solomon |
 |
Kingdom of Greece | Grand Commander of the Order of the Redeemer |
 |
Kingdom of Italy | Grand Officier Order of the Crown of Italy |
.svg){kind=small} |
Kingdom of Tunisia | Grand Cordon of the Order of Glory (Tunisia) |
 |
United Kingdom | Honorary Knight Commander Order of St Michael and St George |
References
- ^ "Muṣṭafā al-Naḥḥās Pasha | prime minister of Egypt".
- S2CID 143999204.
- ^ a b c d e Stadiem 1991, p. 225.
- ^ a b Stadiem 1991, p. 293.
- ^ a b c d Stadiem 1991, p. 294.
- ^ a b c d Stadiem 1991, p. 311.
- ^ a b Stadiem 1991, p. 295.
- ^ Stadiem 1991, p. 310-311.
- ^ Stadiem 1991, p. 312.
- ^ a b c Stadiem 1991, p. 315.
- ^ a b c Stadiem 1991, p. 316.
- ^ Stadiem 1991, p. 318.
Books
- Arthur Goldschmidt, Biographical Dictionary of Modern Egypt Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2000.
- Saniyya Qurra'a. Nimr al-siyasa al-misriyya Cairo, 1952.
- Christopher D. O'Sullivan. FDR and the End of Empire: The Origins of American Power in the Middle East. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, ISBN 1137025247
- Laila Morsy "Farouk in British Policy" pages 193-211 from Middle Eastern Studies Volume 20, No. 4, October 1984.
- Bernard Reich, ed., Political Leaders of the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa: A Biographical Dictionary New York, 1990.
- Stadiem, William (1991). Too Rich: The High Life and Tragic Death of King Farouk. Carroll & Graf Pub. ISBN 9780881846294.