Egypt Islamist group denied political party license

Tuesday, 20 September 2011

The founder of al-Gamaa al-Islamiya, Tarek al-Zomor, says he will appeal the committee's decision to not grant his party a license to create a political party. (Photo courtesy Al Arabiya)

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By Mustafa Suleiman
Al Arabiya Cairo

In the first case of its kind since the January 25 Revolution ousted the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak, the Political Parties Affairs Committee in Egypt denied a license to the formerly militant group al-Gamaa al-Islamiya to establish a political party.

According to the committee, which is responsible for granting permissions for the creation of political parties and which had so far approved all requests, the political wing of al-Gamaa al-Islamiya, which was to be called al-Benaa wa al-Tanmeya (Construction and Development), violated the Political Parties Law.

The committee pointed out that according to a clause in the Political Parties Law, political parties cannot be created on religious basis.

The rejection is a political statement and not a legal issue, said Tarek al-Zomor, founder of the party and head of its Consultative “Shura” Council, who was recently released from prison where he was detained on terrorist charges and for his role with his cousin Aboud al-Zomor in the assassination of late President Anwar Sadat.

“The party has not been created on religious basis but is in line with Article Two of the Constitution which states that the Islamic law is the main source of legislation,” he said.

Zomor argued that talk about “hudud,” strict Islamic penalties, in the party’s program is also in compliance with the Constitution.

“The implementation of ‘hudud’ is also implied on Article Two of the Constitution since according to the Supreme Constitutional Court, Islamic law or ‘sharia’ include fixed punishments for certain crimes.”

The inclusion of the word “hudud,” Arabic for “limits” and generally used in reference to the strict Islamic penal code applied especially in cases of serious crimes like theft, murder, and adultery, in its manifesto seems to be the major reason for the rejection of the party.

According to the Political Parties Affairs Committee, the Construction and Development party’s explicit mention in its program of the necessity of making “hudud” part of civil law shows that the party is founded on religious basis and is striving to impose religious laws on the state.

Before renouncing bloodshed in 2003, al-Gamaa al-Islamiya was held accountable for the deaths of hundreds of civilians, tourists, and police officers and was also known for labeling its opponents and regime officials “apostates” and for striving to establish an Islamic state.

The party, Zomor added, will file a lawsuit with the Supreme Constitutional Court asking to repeal the committee’s decision and even if the case is lost its members will run in the upcoming parliamentary elections as independents.

(This article was translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid.)