Islamic Party | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Muhammad Hegazy[1] |
| Secretary-General | Mohamed Abu Samra[2] |
| Deputy Head | Magdy Salem[3] |
| Founded | April 2011[4] |
| Ideology | Islamism[5] Religious conservatism Mixed economy |
| National affiliation | Egyptian Islamic Jihad |
| House of Representatives | 0 / 568 |
TheIslamic Party (formerly known as thePeace and Development Party (Arabic:حزب السلامة والتنمية,romanized: Ḥizb as-salāma wa-t-tanmiya)[6] orSafety and Development Party) is anIslamistpolitical party in Egypt.[4] The name of the party was changed in approximately December 2012.[7] The main leaders of the group are Mohamed Abu Samra[6] andKamal Habib.[8] The party is backed by theEgyptian Islamic Jihad group.[9] Most of the founders of the party are former members of the organization.[10] Many members of the party have court rulings that bar them from running for elected office.[11]
The party andEgyptian Islamic Jihad withdrew from theAnti-Coup Alliance in January 2014.[12] One of the reasons for the withdrawal was the rejection by the pro-Morsi coalition of the initiative[13] 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.[14] The party called for a "negotiated" solution on 8 February 2014.[15] The party rejoined the alliance around March 2014,[16] though there are indications that it has withdrawn again.[17]
The party is in favour of putting theCamp David Accords to a public referendum, expandingIslamic banking, abolishingmixed-sex education in secondary schools, forming a cultural media council to monitor the Egyptian media, respectingprivate property,progressive taxation, and is in favour of setting aminimum andmaximum wage in line withinflation.[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 byEssam el-Erian, a member of theFreedom and Justice Party and an adviser to PresidentMorsi; he also stated that according to Sharia law, Jews deserve to be killed.[18]
