In the 1950 parliamentary elections, the Wafd Party of el-Nahhas gained a victorymostly due to the absence of the Muslim Brotherhood, which boycotted the electionsand was perceived as a threat by the Free Officers as the Wafd had campaigned on demands similar to their own. Accusations of corruption against Wafd politicians began to surface, however, breeding an atmosphere of rumor and suspicion that consequently brought the Free Officers to the forefront of Egyptian politics. By then, the organization had expanded to around ninety members; according to Khaled Mohieddin, "nobody knew all of them and where they belonged in the hierarchy except Nasser". Nasser felt that the Free Officers were not ready to move against the government and, for nearly two years, he did little beyond officer recruitment and underground news bulletins.
How long did Nasser swell the ranks of his Free Officers?
nearly two years