Archive for Salafi Nour Party

Nour Party intensifies preparations for parliamentary elections

by admin
December 31st, 2012

The Salafi Nour Party announced Monday that it has intensified preparations for the upcoming parliamentary elections. The party said it devised new criteria for choosing its female candidates in the next parliamentary elections.

The candidates will have to sit for tests on political and parliamentary affairs, as well as pass a general knowledge test. They would take training courses for that purpose.

Alexandria branch Secretary General Tareq Fahim said 45 candidates in Alexandria took workshops and participated in various community and political activities.

Fahim said the candidates do not necessarily have to wear the niqab, but must wear the khimar, a partial face covering, to run in the elections.

Hanan Allam, party secretary for female members, said the party would not mind fielding a Coptic female in the elections if she meets the criteria.

The party also launched a campaign Monday to collect LE1,000 from all its members to finance the election campaigns of its candidates in the next parliamentary elections.

“It is not mandatory for the members,” said Mohamed Abbas, the Cairo branch secretary in Cairo.

Abbas said many party candidates did not win in the last elections because they could not afford a comprehensive campaign.

“We do not want to make that mistake again,” he said.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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150 Salafi Nour Party members resign

by admin
December 26th, 2012

One hundred and fifty members of the Salafi Nour Party from 23 governorates submitted their resignation from the party following a meeting on Tuesday.

“We decided to resign from the party, and we wish it success. We will form a new political entity, which will be announced soon,” former party spokesperson Mohamed Nour told state-run news agency MENA.

Nour attributed the resignations to differences with the political views the party has adopted in the recent period.

Party head Emad Abdel Ghafour has not yet resigned, Nour said, and is still considering the situation.

Asked if the withdrawals from the party would mean separation from the Salafi Dawah as well, Nour said that both continuing and resigning members follow Salafi thought, and the differences only concern political views and administration.

Regarding reports that former presidential hopeful Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, who is currently forming his own political party, would be involved with the “new political entity,” Nour said all figures faithful to the new movement’s thought could join, of course including Abu Ismail.  

Nour added that the party welcomes everyone, including non-Salafis, as long as they believe Islamic Sharia should be the basic of governance. He said the country needs politicians who can serve without political conflicts.

Most of the Nour Party figures who quit were members of the now-dissolved People’s Assembly or the Shura Council.

Edited translation from MENA

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Nour Party leader to resign Tuesday, forms alliance with Abu Ismail

by admin
December 24th, 2012

A leading figure in the Salafi Dawah group said Monday that Emad Abdel Ghafour, head of the Salafi Nour Party, and the Salafi preacher Hazem Salah Abu Ismail agreed to form a new political alliance.

Sources from the party told Al-Masry Al-Youm Sunday that Abdel Ghafour, spokespeople Yousry Hammad and Mohamed Nour and other party leaders plan to resign Tuesday.

Hisham Abul Nasr, head of the Salafi Dawah branch in Giza, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the new alliance will be named “Al-Watan,” and will be headed by Abu Ismail with Abdel Ghafour as his first deputy.

Abdel Ghafour and 95 percent of the party youths in greater Cairo are resigning on Tuesday to join the new party, Abul Nasr added.

He said the new alliance is negotiating with all Islamist parties and forces to join and face liberal parties in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Ayman Elias of Abu Ismail’s campaign said the new party is not responsible for any divisions within the Nour Party. “They were already divided,” he said.

Nour Party Vice President Sayed Mostafa said no member of the party’s supreme committee expressed his wish to replace Abdel Ghafour.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
 

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Nour Party changes mind, says will participate in Tuesday demo

by admin
December 10th, 2012

The Salafi Nour Party has announced its participation in Tuesday’s mass demonstration in support of President Mohamed Morsy and the constitutional referendum.

The protest is planned to take place in front of the Rabaa al-Adaweya and Al-Rashdan mosques in Nasr City.

On Monday party spokesperson Yousry Hammad denied the party had said it would not join the demonstration.

Nour Party Secretary General Galal Morra said the party had initially declined to participate as its leaders were preoccupied with the “Yes to the Constitution” campaign in the governorates.

“The campaign attempts to convince citizens to back the constitution to rebuild the state institutions and support development,” he said.

A number of Islamist forces, led by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Freedom and Justice Party, have announced participation in Tuesday’s demonstration.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Nour Party decides not to take part in Tuesday protests

by admin
December 10th, 2012

Galal Morra, secretary general of the Salafi Nour Party, said the party has so far decided not to take part in a protest to be staged by Islamist powers Tuesday.

He added that the party is busy preparing for a campaign to persuade voters to vote in favor of the new constitution, scheduled to be put to a nationwide referendum Saturday.

An Islamist powers coalition, which brings together the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafi Dawah and other groups, called for two protests Tuesday in front of Rabea al-Adaweya and Aal Rashdan mosques in Nasr City for their members to voice their support for Mohamed Morsy as the legitimate president.

The party will intensify its campaigns to raise awareness about the new constitution and encourage citizens to vote “yes” in the referendum, in order to continue building state institutions and end the transitional period, Morra said.

Edited translation from MENA

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Saturday’s pro-Morsy protest moved from Tahrir to Cairo University, says Brotherhood

by admin
November 29th, 2012

The Muslim Brotherhood has decided to move Saturday’s protests in support of President Mohamed Morsy’s constitutional declaration to Cairo University, the group announced on its official English Twitter on Thursday evening.

Some feared that violence could erupt between Islamist demonstrators and revolutionary activists, also protesting in Tahrir against the decree that gave Morsy sweeping, unprecedented powers. Three have already died in violent clashes in Cairo and other governorates between pro and anti-Morsy protesters.

Nader Bakkar of the Salafi Nour Party said that his and other Islamist groups had also decided to move their protests to the vicinity of Cairo University this Saturday.

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Interior minister hopes to persuade rival weekend protests to separate

by admin
November 29th, 2012

Interior Minister Ahmed Gamal Eddin said there have been attempts to communicate with political forces calling for mass demonstrations on Friday and Saturday, in an effort to prevent more violence after a week of protests.

The minister said he hopes one side will be persuaded to organize its rally somewhere other than Tahrir Square, so that conflicting protests will be kept separate. 

Islamists have called for President Mohamed Morsy's supporters to gather in the square Saturday, while opposition and secular activists plan to continue a week of demonstrations against the president's constitutional declaration in the square Friday.

Several protesters have died during clashes, some from inhaling tear gas in protests against the declaration that gave Morsy sweeping powers last Thursday.

Security forces, according to the ministry, have deployed additional troops near important buildings downtown ahead of Friday's protest.

The minister emphasized that peaceful demonstrations will be respected, but any attempts to storm police or public facilities will be stopped in accordance with the law.

A number of political leaders, revolutionary forces and activist movements described the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi Nour Party's calls for a Saturday demonstration in support of Morsy’s decisions as “calls for violence,” and an escalation of the tension with secular forces.

Khaled Telima, head of the Progressive Youth Union, the youth wing of the leftist Tagammu Party, said that the Saturday demonstrations are “calls to fight.”

“We will not leave the square,” Telima said. “More martyrs will fall in the road for freedom, and the [Muslim Brotherhood] follows on the path of Hosni Mubarak in killing protesters.”

George Ishaq, a leading member of the Constitution Party, described the Islamist-organized protest as “catastrophic.”

Essam Sharif, coordinator of Free Front for Peaceful Change, anticipated that the Brotherhood would intentionally clash with and violently attack opposition protesters.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Thursday’s papers: On the brink of civil disobedience

by admin
November 29th, 2012

The ramifications of the president’s constitutional declaration, which grants Mohamed Morsy powers that go beyond even those enjoyed by his predecessors, are the source of speculation and dramatic headlines as the consequences continue to play out across the country.

“The judiciary announces disobedience against the tyranny,” screams the top front-page headline in independent daily Youm7, reporting that the Court of Cassation has suspended its work in response to last week’s decree.

Privately owned Al-Watan highlights the same news in a headline pointing out that this is the first time in its history that the court has taken part in a strike.   

Independent paper Al-Tahrir reports that appellate courts are also on strike until Morsy rescinds the decree, which put his decisions above judicial challenges and protects the Constituent Assembly and Shura Council from dissolution.

These actions have raised concerns among those who believe the country’s first Islamist president is following in the footsteps of the old regime by manipulating laws and constitutional provisions.

In another story, Al-Tahrir publishes the assertions Maher Samy, vice president and spokesperson of the Supreme Constitutional Court, made during a press conference Wednesday rejecting allegations the court is plotting to bring Morsy down.

Samy reportedly implied that the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party is behind these “groundless” accusations in an attempt to distort the judiciary’s public image.

“Since its ruling dissolving the People’s Assembly, the Supreme Constitutional Court is facing fierce and unfair attacks from a certain major political trend that lost its seats in the Parliament and was deprived of authorities and interests,” reads the court’s statement.

Other publications, like the liberal party paper Al-Wafd and independent Al-Dostour seem to ring the alarms for civil disobedience.

Al-Wafd reports that revolutionaries are planning to give Morsy a second warning in the form of a general strike at state institutions in response to his indifference to their demands.

Written in its signature manifesto style, Al-Dostour continues to express its vigorous campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood, urging the populace to nationwide disobedience.

The paper issues its call to action: “Some sources of political powers assert that the downfall of the dictatorial regime will not happen except by general civil disobedience,” and, “The general civil disobedience will save the people from shedding blood without any confrontations with the group’s militias.”

The article fails to specify how or when this civil disobedience will take place.

Youm7 quotes Karima al-Hefnawy, a prominent member of the Egyptian Socialist Party, as saying that escalation measures, including civil disobedience, will not be taken before the constitutional court rules on the legality of the Shura Council and the Constituent Assembly.

While independent daily Al-Shorouk states that protesters will continue to flood the streets with demonstrations against the declaration, Freedom and Justice, mouthpiece of the Brotherhood, publishes the results of a survey claiming 74 percent support for Morsy’s decree.

Freedom and Justice allocates half of page 7 to a picture of its burning Alexandria headquarters. The paper, predictably, places the blame on the remnants of the previous regime as well as some revolutionaries affiliated with Mohamed ElBaradei’s Constitution Party and Hamdeen Sabbahi’s Popular Current who are referred to as “thugs” in the report.    

To counter anti-declaration protests over the past week, recently re-established daily Al-Sabah reports that Islamists, including the Brotherhood and the ultra-conservative Salafi Nour Party, are rolling up their sleeves to launch massive pro-Morsy rallies across the governorates Saturday.

Egypt’s papers:

Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt

Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size

Al-Gomhurriya: Daily, state-run

Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run

Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned

Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned

Al-Watan: Daily, privately owned

Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party

Youm7: Daily, privately owned

Al-Tahrir: Daily, privately owned

Al-Sabah: Daily, privately owned

Freedom and Justice: Daily, published by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party

Sawt al-Umma: Weekly, privately owned

Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Nasserist Party

Al-Nour: Official paper of the Salafi Nour Party

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Islamists to rally on Saturday for Morsy

by admin
November 28th, 2012

The Muslim Brotherhood and hardline Salafi parties will hold protests across Egypt on Saturday in support of President Mohamed Morsy, who is facing a wave of unrest over a decree that expanded his powers.

Mahmoud Ghozlan, the Brotherhood spokesperson, told Reuters: “We have called for pro-Morsy nationwide protests. The exact locations of the protests are currently being discussed.”

Salah Abdel Maboud, a leading member of the Salafi Nour Party, confirmed Islamists would stage protests on Saturday. He said the location could be Tahrir Square, where Morsy’s opponents have been camped out for seven consecutive days.

The Brotherhood, Egypt’s most organized and popular Islamist group, had previously cancelled its call for a big pro-Morsy rally last Tuesday because of fears of an eruption of violence between the president’s supporters and opponents, who had also called for mass demonstrations on the same day.

Five months into the Islamist leader’s term, in scenes recalling the uprising that unseated predecessor Hosni Mubarak last year, police fired tear gas at stone-throwers after protests by tens of thousands on Tuesday against the declaration that put Morsy’s decisions beyond legal challenge.

Anti-Morsy protesters say they will stay in Tahrir Square until the decree is withdrawn, bringing fresh turmoil to a nation at the heart of the Arab Spring and delivering a new blow to an economy already on the ropes.

Egypt’s cassation and appeals courts said on Wednesday they would suspend their work until the constitutional court rules on the decree, which has further damaged Morsy’s already testy relationship with Egypt’s judges.

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Sheikh slams Nour Party leader for attending Turkish national celebration

by admin
November 5th, 2012

The deputy head of the Salafi Dawah movement strongly criticized the chairman of the Salafi Nour Party, Emad Abdel Ghafour, for attending the Turkish Embassy’s celebration of the 89th anniversary of the foundation of the Turkish republic Wednesday.

“We are not pleased with that participation and were not informed about it in advance,” said Sheikh Yasser Borhamy, the Salafi Dawah leader, answering questions from visitors of his website, salafvoice.com.

“A Muslim should not partake in a celebration marking the end of the Islamic Caliphate, which was the symbol of the nation’s unity and was brought down by enemies of Islam,” the sheikh said.

He decried the founding of the secular country.

“The founding of the secularist Ataturk republic that had fought against Islam stronger than infidels [did] was one of the major catastrophes. Marking the event is unjustifiable, even as a diplomatic custom,” Borhamy maintained.

Turkey has sought closer relations with Egypt following the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak in the 25 January revolution last year.

President Mohamed Morsy visited Turkey in September. Ankara later approved a US$1 billion loan to Cairo.

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