Arab Socialist Union

(ASU, Al-Ittihad al-ishtiraki al-arabi), a mass political organization in the Arab Republic of Egypt, uniting peasants, workers, members of the intelligentsia, and representatives of national capital. The decision to create the ASU was made at the National Congress of Popular Forces in 1962. The ASU’s original organizations were established in May 1963; 1963 is considered the year of the union’s founding. The union’s political program is the Charter of National Action, adopted June 30, 1962, which proclaims the rejection of the capitalist path of development and sets as Egypt’s goal “the construction of socialism, with consideration for the concrete conditions in the country.” The union’s first statute was published in December 1962. The new statute, adopted in May 1968, appoints the ASU’s tasks as follows: “to carry out the socialist revolution, liquidate the consequences of capitalist and feudal rule, and struggle against foreign influence and the overthrown right wing.” The supreme organ of the union is the General National Congress, which is empowered for six years: the first session was held in September 1968. Between sessions of the congress, the union’s supreme organ is its Executive Committee. The new statute introduced the principle of democratic centralism into the union’s organizations. The ASU has approximately 6.5 million members (1970); Gamal Abdul Nasser was its chairman. Anwar Sadat was elected chairman in 1970 after Nasser’s death. [2–439–3; updated]