The Tiny Minority of Extremists
Charles Johnson
Sat Oct 2, 2004 at 9:05 pm PDT • Views: 144
The Muslim Brotherhood, grandfather of the Islamic supremacist movement, is getting frisky again in Egypt: Lawmakers Block Egyptian Islamic Party.
CAIRO, Egypt - An Egyptian legislative body blocked the establishment of Egypt’s first Islamic-oriented political party on Saturday, the third time lawmakers refused to recognize the group.
The committee in charge of legalizing new political parties refused to allow the establishment of Hizb al-Wasat al-Gedid, the New Centralist Party, a government official said on condition of anonymity.
The Political Parties Affairs Committee gave no reason for its decision, but during previous applications the government has said the party was a front for the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
Usually the committee rejects the formation of parties it feels add no new ideas to the political arena. Members of the group said that argument doesn’t apply to them.
“The Committee knows that we are a very special political party because we are presenting the first party with an Islamic agenda,” said member Tharwat al-Kharabawi, a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
“Islamic civilization is our reference,” he added. “How is that not new?”
Al-Kharabawi said he was surprised by the decision because “the talk about reforms and the regime’s readiness to open doors to the political parties all made us believe a real change is taking place, but that all turned out to be a big lie.”
He said the group will appeal the decision.
Frank says: