Khedive Loyalists

Khedive Loyalists are a political party in Egypt, although they are often mis-identified as Royalists in the foreign press (the Khedives are not technically monarchs but hereditary governors). In general nearly all non-Arabs in the country either belong to or are sympathetic to this party, because the Khedives have usually protected them. This is especially true of the Scots. There is also a solid core of conservatives in the upper and middle classes who are Loyalist while a fair number of peasants also follow the Khedives.

In general the Khedive Loyalists adhere to most of the same policies as their rivals, the National Republicans. Both want to see Egypt increasingly industrialized, want as modern a military as feasible, desire local control of the many archeological treasures the country contains, insist on the importance of Islamic law as an unofficial basis of all temporal government, plan on expanding public services, etc. The differences in policy between the two parties are nearly identical, with fierce debate centered around the few points of disagreement, such as the exact wording in history textbooks. Yet mostly their rivalry consists of trying to take credit for everything that gets done while placing blame whenever things go wrong.

Officially, the Khedive Loyalists hold that the nation requires the stability of a hereditary head of state. In general they are slightly more capitalistic, and tend to favor slightly better relations with Egypt's non-Arab, non-Islamic neighbors.

A few members of this party tend towards extreme religious views, including some who regard the Khedives as eventual candidates for Caliph, i.e. ruler of all Islam.