Khedive Tawfiq and the sharpening of the crisis

03Khedive Tawfiq and the sharpening of the crisis

The new firman (August 1879)

• Tawfiq came to power after the deposition of his father Isma'il (1879).
• The Ottoman sultan seized the opportunity to curb the Khedivial powers granted by the Comprehensive Firman of 1873, issuing a new firman providing:
  • the text of treaties Egypt intended to sign must be notified to the Sublime Porte;
  • the army in peacetime must not exceed 18,000 soldiers;
  • new loans were forbidden unless the purpose was to settle existing debts and with the creditors' approval.
• England and France asked that the earlier Khedivial privileges not be withdrawn — not out of sympathy for the Khedive, but to prevent the sultan's influence from overwhelming him, which would stall their own projects in Egypt.

Sharif's ministry, then Riad's

• The consuls of England and France showed disquiet at Sharif Pasha's ministry (September 1879) because he insisted on the constitution and on forming a chamber of deputies.
• The two consuls held that parliamentary life obstructed the creditors' interests, so Tawfiq moved to rid himself of Sharif's ministry.
• Tawfiq formed a temporary ministry until Riad Pasha arrived from Europe. Riad was a supporter of absolute rule, hostile to the constitutional system and submissive to European influence — the best instrument for the creditor states.
• Tawfiq restored dual control, which had been suspended after two European ministers (an Englishman and a Frenchman) entered the ministry; Riad's ministry endorsed this measure.
• The English and French consuls drew up a regulation for dual control that gave the controllers greater influence than the ministers of the state: the right to attend cabinet sessions and to see the statement of revenues and expenditures; their opinion was advisory but in practice binding.