DATE=6/7/99
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-250317
TITLE=EGYPT ISLAMIC PARTY (L-ONLY)
BYLINE=LISA BRYANT
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: THE EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT HAS REJECTED THE LATEST BID BY A
GROUP OF MODERATE ISLAMISTS TO ESTABLISH A POLITICAL PARTY. LISA
BRYANT REPORTS FROM CAIRO THAT MEMBERS OF THE WOULD-BE EGYPTIAN
"WASAT" PARTY SAY THEY WILL KEEP TRYING TO BREAK INTO THE
COUNTRY'S POLITICAL SCENE.
TEXT: WASAT'S FOUNDER AND LEADER, ABUL ELA MADI SAYS THE
DECISION BY AN EGYPTIAN COURT SATURDAY TO REJECT HIS GROUP'S
APPLICATION IS A SETBACK FOR THE SELF-STYLED MODERATE ISLAMISTS,
BUT NOT A DEFEAT.
IN AN INTERVIEW WITH V-O-A, MR. MADI SAID HIS GROUP WOULD
CONTINUE TO APPLY FOR POLITICAL PARTY STATUS UNTIL IT WAS
ACCEPTED. HE SAID ESTABLISHING EGYPT'S FIRST ACTIVE ISLAMIST
PARTY IN RECENT YEARS WAS CRITICAL, SINCE IT WOULD GIVE VOICE TO
THOUSANDS OF DISAFFECTED YOUTH AND MODERATE MUSLIMS IN THE
COUNTRY.
///MADI ACT///
I THINK OUR PARTY WILL REPRESENT THE MIDDLE OR CENTRIST
PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY, IN OUR COUNTRY. THE MODERN
ISLAMISTS WHO ACCEPT DEMOCRACY, WHO ACCEPT ALTERNATIVE
POWER, WHO ACCEPT PLURALISM, WHO ACCEPT COPTS (COPTIC
CHRISTIANS) AS EQUAL CITIZENS, ACCEPT WOMEN AND SO ON. I
THINK THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE FROM THE YOUTH, THE
ISLAMISTS, WHO NEED TO WORK THROUGH THE LAW AND EXPRESS
THEIR OPINIONS AND THOUGHTS AS A MODERN STATE.
///END ACT///
MR. MADI FIRST APPLIED FOR POLITICAL PARTY STATUS IN 1997. BUT
THE GOVERNMENT'S "POLITICAL PARTIES COMMITTEE" REFUSED HIS
APPLICATION, SAYING THERE WAS LITTLE TO DIFFERENTIATE THE GROUP
FROM EXISTING PARTIES -- A PREREQUISITE FOR ESTABLISHING A PARTY
IN EGYPT.
SO THE GROUP CHANGED ITS NAME SLIGHTLY AND REAPPLIED LAST YEAR.
ITS NEW PLATFORM STATED THAT NON-MUSLIMS AND WOMEN MIGHT BE
ALLOWED TO HOLD GOVERNMENT OFFICE AS A WAY TO PORTRAY A MORE
MODERATE IMAGE. BUT MR. MADI'S SECOND ATTEMPT WAS ALSO REJECTED.
HIS GROUP CONTESTED THE REJECTION IN COURT, BUT THE BID FAILED.
MR. MADI HAS SPENT 18 YEARS AS A MEMBER OF THE MUSLIM
BROTHERHOOD, AN ISLAMIST MOVEMENT WHICH IS OUTLAWED IN EGYPT THAT
CLAIMS TO HAVE REJECTED VIOLENCE YEARS AGO. MANY OTHER PARTY
MEMBERS ARE ALSO FORMER BROTHERHOOD MEMBERS. MR. MADI NOW SAYS
HIS GROUP HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BROTHERHOOD'S PLATFORM.
MR. MADI'S EFFORTS COME AS EGYPT APPEARS TO BE GAINING THE UPPER
HAND IN A YEARS-LONG FIGHT AGAINST ISLAMIST MILITANTS, WHO HAVE
VOWED TO TOPPLE THE REGIME OF PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK. VIOLENCE
BETWEEN ISLAMIST GROUPS AND THE GOVERNMENT HAS KILLED AN
ESTIMATED 12-HUNDRED PEOPLE SINCE THE EARLY 1990S.
EARLIER THIS YEAR, LEADERS OF THE GAMA'A ISLAMIYA, ONE OF THE
LARGEST MILITANT GROUPS, ANNOUNCED THEY HAD RENOUNCED VIOLENCE.
OTHER MUSLIMS ARE TRYING TO ESTABLISH ANOTHER PARTY, CALLED THE
ISLAMIC SOCIAL PARTY. MR. MADI PRAISED THEIR EFFORT. HE SAID
ATTEMPTS TO TURN MILITANTS TOWARD PEACEFUL MEANS OF POLITICAL
OPPOSITION IN EGYPT SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED. (SIGNED)
NEB/LB/PCF
07-Jun-99 8:29 AM EDT (1229 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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