What is wrong with Egypt’s religious parties?
Referring to the European history, the author states that a democratic state needs to be secular and limit religious influence into politics. He therefore condemns the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist group’s attempt to change the Egyptian constitution in accordance with their Islamist ideology. Furthermore the Muslim Brotherhood’s takeover of state institutions under the Mursī period further blurred the line, allowing public law to work in favour of the group religious doctrine and even protect them from prosecution in the aftermath. It was upon the youth to stop such developments, and make sure that the newly formed constitution would take into account all religious communities and shall not allow religious parties. Consequently all Egyptian parties, which were based on a religious ideology, had to be dissolved. Yet some of them, such as the ‘Nur’ party were re-established in accordance with constitutional law. The author concludes that respecting the new secular constitution is necessary to develop democratic institutions, as it was the case in Europe.
(22 March 2015, Al-Misr al-Yawm, ʿAmād Gād)
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