Abdel Khalek Sarwat Pasha (; 1873–1928) was an Egyptian political figure. Sarwat served as the Prime Minister of Egypt from 1 March 1922 until 30 November 1922, and again between 26 April 1927 and 16 March 1928. He was instrumental in bringing Great Britain to issue its Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence in February 1922, which ended the British Protectorate of Egypt and recognized it to be an Independent Sovereign State. He was also Minister of Justice (1914–1919), Minister of Interior (16 March 1921 – 24 December 1921), Minister of Foreign Affairs (7 June 1926 – 18 April 1927) as well as the first Egyptian Attorney General (1908–1912).
Sarwat was born in Cairo in 1873. His father was Roznamji Egypt (Minister of Finance, in today's terms). He graduated with a License de droit from the Khedival School of Law in 1893 and spent the first 19 years of his career in the Ministry of Justice, following which he was appointed Minister of Justice (1914–1919). From 1918 and until his death, 10 years later, he became an important political figure in Egypt at a time when the country was struggling to obtain its full independence from Great Britain. He was close to a group of politicians who founded the Liberal Constitutional Party in October 1922, headed by Adly Yakan Pasha to whom Sarwat was very close. The party represented large land owners and the urban middle class. It had a gradualist approach to independence. The party was also joined by politicians who defected in 1921 from the Wafd, a movement formed in late 1918 to obtain the complete independence of Egypt from Great Britain and which was led by Saad Zaghloul Pasha, a popular charismatic leader who had the overwhelming support of the great majority of Egyptians.
In March 1919, soon after forming the Wafd, Saad was exiled to Malta by the British. This ignited the 1919 revolution. As a result, the British released Saad from exile, in April, and sent the Milner Mission to Egypt in December 1919 to study the situation. Saad and the Wafd were officially invited to London to negotiate (Saad-Milner negotiations). Adly joined the group. The negotiations (June – November 1920), broke down and highlighted a rift between Saad and Adly. This was a turning point for Saad. He became radicalized and relied mainly on popular support. Adly and Sarwat, both moderates, became the interlocutors of choice for the British in their future negotiations with Egypt.
Sarwat became minister of interior in a Adly Cabinet (March–December 1921) formed to follow-up on a British invitation to Egypt to enter official negotiations with Britain aiming at replacing the Protectorate with another relationship. Adly invited Saad to join him. Saad put unacceptable conditions to join and called for withdrawal of confidence in the Government. Several members of the Wafd, disagreeing with him, left the Wafd, confirming a split that was brewing. Sarwat was interim prime minister, while Adly was negotiating in London (Adly-Curzon negotiations, 1 July-5 December 1921), The negotiations failed and led to the resignation of Adly in December 1921. Sarwat put forward conditions which, upon their acceptance by Britain, he would be ready to form a cabinet. Despite Great Britain accepting these conditions, they were not enough for Saad and Adly. However, under pressure from Field Marshall Edmund Allenby, the British High Commissioner to Egypt, the British Government issued, on 28 February 1922, the Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence, which declared Egypt an independent country ending the British protectorate, with reserved points making this a partial independence only. Sarwat became, on 1 March 1922, the first prime minister of the new Kingdom of Egypt and appointed himself Minister of Foreign Affair and Minister of the Interior. He formed a Committee to draft a Constitution which he proposed to King Fouad I, but the King pressured him to resign nine months later, as he was unwilling to promulgate a constitution, which would have diminished his powers.
The Constitution was promulgated later and the first election under it was a landslide victory for Saad's Wafd. Saad became prime minister in January 1924, but a crisis forced him to resign 10 months later and allowed the king to create a situation where, as of 18 March 1925, the country was ruled unconstitutionally. After 11 months of unconstitutional rule, the political parties convened a National Congress let by Saad, with Adly and Sarwat sitting beside him, which resulted in the return of constitution rule. Sarwat became Minister of Foreign Affair in a so-called coalition cabinet let by Adly (7 June 1926 – 18 April 1927). Following the resignation of Adly, Sarwat became prime Minister of a second coalition cabinet on 26 March 1927 and kept the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to himself. He diffused a major crisis between Egypt and Britain, the so-called Army crisis. He also entered into negotiations with Britain (Sarwat-Chamberlain negotiations) on the reserved points of the Declaration. While Sarwat was negotiating in London, Saad died in Egypt. His successor at the helm of the Wafd was a hardliner. The draft treaty brought back by Sarwat was rejected by both the Wafd and the Cabinet and he resigned on 16 March 1928. He died in Paris on 22 September 1928 at the age of 55.
Early life and education (1873–1893) Abdel Khalek Sarwat was born in Cairo on 31 March 1873. His family traces its origin to Anatolia (Asian part of today's Turkey). His father, Ismail Abdel Khalek Pasha, was Roznamji Egypt (Minister of Finance, in today's terms).El Meligui (1989), p.29 Sarwat graduated from the Khedival School of Law,The Khedival School had a French Director. Charles Testoud was the Director from November 1891. Teaching was in French, hence the Degree is named in French.Established in 1868 as the School of Management and Languages, became the Khedival School of Law in 1886, was included in the Egyptian University when it was created in 1908. The latter became Cairo University in 1925). first of his class, in 1893 with a License de droit.
Judicial career (1893–1919)
Sarwat started his career in 1893, at the age of 20. He spent his first 26 years in the Ministry of Justice, holding, among others, the positions of District Attorney, Judge and Attorney General. In 1914 he became Minister of Justice (5 April 1914 – 22 April 1919). Sir John Scott, the Judicial Advisor in the Ministry appointed young Sarwat as his secretary.El Meligui (1989), p.40 The Judicial Advisor at that time was the representative of the British Government in the Egyptian Ministry of Justice who, as such, was more powerful than the Minister. This position, ingratiated Sarwat with the British, who came to appreciate his honesty and competence and gave him significant authority early in his career. According to Mohamed Hussein Heikal “The influence and confidence Sarwat was able to hold allowed him to stand in the Ministry of Justice as the main decision maker while still a young man of not even twenty-five”.Heikal (2014), p.138. Translated from Arabic. During this period, he was appointed Secretary to the Judicial Audit Committee of the Ministry.
Attorney General (1908–1912)
In 1912, at the age of 39, Sarwat became, the first Egyptian to hold the position of Attorney General since the British occupation. He was recommended by Saad Zaghlul Pasha, who became later his political foe and who was, at that time, Minister of Justice (1906–1913). Saad's recommendation was made despite objections from the Khedive, from the British and from his colleagues among ministers. The ministers’ objection was that Sarwat had been secretary to two (British) Judicial Advisors. As Attorney General, Sarwat became under pressure to prosecute the newspaper El Jarida, which was headed by Ahmed Lutfi El Sayed and which defended individual liberties and the supremacy of the Law. Sarwat's reaction to the pressure to prosecute was “No law justifies the prosecution they are demanding, yet their insistence on prosecution had them seek justification from laws which do not apply to Egypt, including Indian laws”.El Meligui (1989), p.41. Translated from Arabic
Minister of Justice (1914–1919) Sarwat was Minister of Justice (5 April 1914 – 22 April 1919) in the successive cabinets headed by Hussein Roshdi Pasha. As Minister, he introduced laws and amendments giving protections to the accused and introduced guidelines for appeals.El Meligui (1989), p.44-45
Egypt's road to the 1922 Declaration of Independence Sarwat was instrumental in the events leading to the British Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence, a historical moment in modern Egypt. The road to the Declaration was long and tumultuous.
Background At the beginning of World War I, the British Government unilaterally declared Egypt, which it was occupying since 1882, a British Protectorate (18 December 1914). By the end of the war, consequences of the war and the protectorate began to appear on both the Egyptian and British political scenes.
In Egypt, the Egyptian nationalist movement which has been growing among intellectuals before the war found a larger support among average Egyptians who suffered during the war from high inflation and from their forced recruitment into the Labor Corps (About half a million ).Vatikiotis (1985), p.253 The nationalist movement also found support in US President Woodrow Wilson’s declaration on Self-determination. In Great Britain, the war made the Government more sensitive to the importance of Egypt as a strategic asset, but it also put financial strains on the Empire. Britain was now looking for an arrangement to control the Egypt at a lesser cost and a lower level of military commitments, while safeguarding its route to India and protecting the interests of foreigners living in the country.
Political developments during this period reflected the interaction between the major protagonists. On the British side, Lloyd George, the British prime minister, had to consider his country's political climate. He was assisted by his Foreign Secretary, Lord George Curzon, who would become the lead British negotiator with an Egyptian delegation. A no less important figure was Field Marshall Edmond Allenby, who was made Special High Commissioner of Egypt (based in Cairo) in 1919. Allenby had a crucial role in shaping the issues and convincing the British Government to unilaterally declare the independence of Egypt. On the Egyptian side, Saad Zaghlul Pasha, who was seen as the national populist leader,Saad, who had been minister of Education, then of Minister of Justice before the war (1906–1912), then member of the legislative assembly, had a reputation as an effective administrator, but was not known as a national political leader until 1918. ultimately demanded the full independence of Egypt, including the evacuation of British troops. To serve this goal, he did not hesitate to use wide popular demonstrations. Adly Yakan Pasha and Sarwat Pasha, who initially supported Saad, were moderates and hence became in constant conflict with Saad. This situation reflected their different support bases: the large masses for Saad and the ruling class for Adly and Sarwat.
Creation of the Wafd and the 1919 Revolution