Country: | Egypt |
Native Name Lang: | ar |
Islamic Party | |
Leader: | Muhammad Hegazy[1] |
Leader2 Title: | Secretary-General |
Leader2 Name: | Mohamed Abu Samra[2] |
Leader3 Title: | Deputy Head |
Leader3 Name: | Magdy Salem[3] |
Foundation: | April 2011[4] |
National: | Egyptian Islamic Jihad |
Seats1 Title: | House of Representatives |
Colorcode: |
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The Islamic Party (formerly known as the Peace and Development Party[5] or Safety and Development Party) is an Islamist political party in Egypt.[4] The name of the party was changed in approximately December 2012.[6] The main leaders of the group are Mohamed Abu Samra[5] and Kamal Habib.[7] The party is backed by the Egyptian Islamic Jihad group.[8] Most of the founders of the party are former members of the organization.[9] Many members of the party have court rulings that bar them from running for elected office.[10]
The party and Egyptian Islamic Jihad withdrew from the Anti-Coup Alliance in January 2014.[11] One of the reasons for the withdrawal was the rejection by the pro-Morsi coalition of the initiative[12] put forth by the Islamic Party that sought to end the crisis by appointing a presidential council composed of a civilian, an Islamist and a member of the army.[13] The party called for a "negotiated" solution on 8 February 2014.[14] The party rejoined the alliance around March 2014,[15] though there are indications that it has withdrawn again.[16]
The party is in favour of putting the Camp David Accords to a public referendum, expanding Islamic banking, abolishing mixed-sex education in secondary schools, forming a cultural media council to monitor the Egyptian media, respecting private property, progressive taxation, and is in favour of setting a minimum and maximum wage in line with inflation.[4]
The secretary general of the party, Mohamed Abu Samra, stated that it would vigorously oppose returning Egyptian Jews of Israeli descent to Egypt in response to a comment made by Essam el-Erian, a member of the Freedom and Justice Party and an adviser to President Morsi; he also stated that according to Sharia law, Jews deserve to be killed.[17]