,
Saad Zaghloul, Hamad el-BaselHe was born in
Sahel Selim on 1877 to a wealthy large landowning Egyptian family. His father helped found the Umma party in 1907. He was later educated
Balliol College, Oxford. Throughout his political career, he served as governor of
Fayyum, the
Suez Canal district and
Buhayra. He was a member of the
Wafd party during the
1919 Egyptian revolution, and was exiled to the
Seychelles alongside the Wafd party founder
Saad Zaghloul. In the Wafd, he was a member of the original high command and of the second high command following the deportation of the first one. He later split from the Wafd in 1921 due to his support for
Adly Yakan and helped found the
Liberal Constitutional Party, serving as its first vice-president. He later became leader of the party in 1926, formally becoming president in 1928. He served in a few cabinets until becoming prime minister from 1928 to 1929. He dissolved parliament on 19 July 1928 and suspended the
constitution, choosing to rule by decree. During his premiership, his government entered into negotiations with the British to seek more domestic Egyptian political control of the country. The draft treaty provided for the withdrawal of British forces from the Suez Canal, British agreement to help Egypt abolish the
Capitulations system and Sudan reverting to the status quo of 1924. For the Sudan, the Anglo-Egyptian Convention of 1899 was reaffirmed, with one Egyptian battalion sent to Sudan to satisfy public opinion. He was also able to secure the 1929 Nile waters agreement, codifying Egyptian rights to the
Nile. However, the British believed that any permanent treaty with Egypt required the Wafd in power, since the Wafd was the only party capable of winning free elections. In the meanwhile, the Wafd lead a campaign against Mahmoud's government; Mahmoud in response banned several newspapers including
Ruz al Yusuf. These events led to Mahmoud's resignation and a Wafd victory in the
1929 Egyptian parliamentary election. The Wafd and the Liberals were brought together during the premiership of
Ismail Sidqi. Sidqi suspended the 1923 constitution and replaced it with a much more autocratic document; the
1930 constitution greatly strengthen the powers of the king and weakened the parliament. The Wafd and Liberals agreed to form an alliance to fight against Sidqi's government. Both parties agreed to boycott the
1931 Egyptian parliamentary election. Mahmoud and
Mustafa al-Nahhas, the leader of the Wafd party, toured Egypt to gather support for their cause. Mahmoud was also involvement in the
1935–1936 protests, rallying support against the regime. Mahmoud was a member of the Egyptian negotiating team that eventually resulted in the
1936 Anglo-Egyptian treaty. During negotiations, he objected to the condition that the Egyptian government should build roads for British forces and assist Britain in war or "an apprehended international emergency", though accepted the military clauses on the conditions that the capitulations would be completely revoked. After a victory of the anti-Wafd parties in the
1938 elections, he became prime minister once again. As prime minister, he was more pro-British than before, due to concern of
fascist Italy's expansion policies. He resigned on 12 August 1939 due to health reasons. He died on the 1 February 1941. ==References==