Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court issued a decision on August 9 to dissolve the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP)—the official party of the banned Muslim Brotherhood. FJP is the first and only Islamist party to be dissolved by a court ruling.
Various political factions were surveyed about whether this decision would be applied to other Egyptian religious parties—which make up nearly 20 out of 90 parties in total.
Politicized decision
Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court issued a decision on August 9 to dissolve the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP)—the official party of the banned Muslim Brotherhood. FJP is the first and only Islamist party to be dissolved by a court ruling.
Various political factions were surveyed about whether this decision would be applied to other Egyptian religious parties—which make up nearly 20 out of 90 parties in total.
Politicized decision
Former MP at the FJP Mahmoud Helmy said the decision was “politicized and represents a political retaliation against the party and its members. Why has the Parties Affairs Committee initially agreed to establish the party if it was meant to be dissolved later?”
The decision may affect the Building and Development Party (BPD)
Spokesperson of the Islamic Group in Asyut Hamada Nassar believes the Supreme Administrative Court’s decision to dissolve the FJP fits to Egypt’s political context and cannot be separated in any way from the political exclusion of Political Islam.
“The ruling is affected by political motives and the hostility of the new regime towards the Muslim Brotherhood in both of its advocacy and political factions,” Nassar said.
Nassar added that he does not rule out the dissolution of the BDP— the political arm of the Islamic Group— although it was licensed by a court ruling rather than the approval of the Parties Affairs Committee, which rejected its application before they appealed to the Administrative Court to get a ruling.
The Nour Party is consistent with the Constitution
Spokesperson of the Salafist Nour Party Abdulghaffar Taha was confident that his party would not be affected by the decision as they were promised by the regime not to be prejudiced or approached. He said his party’s religious reference are the Islamic teachings which he says are in line with the Constitution.
The dissolution of the FJP, he believes, was unrelated to its religious background. The decision, he claims, came on the background of the involvement of the party and its members in acts of sabotage and violence.
Precedence of National Democratic Party (NDP)
Former NDP leader and current Secretary of the Republican People’s Party Mohamed Fahmy Saleh said the dissolution of FJP was similar to the dissolving of the NDP, with some variations.
“In the end, the two parties were involved in the sabotage of the country where the first through plundering its riches and the second by endangering its national security,” Saleh said.
Saleh added that the ruling may not be a pretext to dissolve the other religious parties, but it may apply to the BDP since some of its members were involved in acts of sabotage—some of them were tried while others escaped.
Regarding the other parties, a ruling is required to execute Article (27) of the Constitution which provides for the dissolution of political parties based on religious grounds, he said.
Additionally, Tharwat Abdelaal, professor of public law at the University of Asyut, said the president may issue a decree to commission the Parties Affairs Committee with re-evaluating the current religious-based parties and dissolving any non-adherent ones in light of the new Constitution.
Abdelaal added that the current political rights law prohibits the establishment of any political party based on religion. The Parties Affairs Committee will be tasked with reviewing all parties of a disputed background individually to apply the required standards and procedures, and any party with a religious background will be dissolved without the need for a court ruling.
Constitution prohibits religious parties
Hilal Abdulhamid, Coordinator of the Civil Parties Coalition in Asyut, said the court’s decision to dissolve the FJP is in line with the law and the Constitution. The ruling is applicable to all religious parties including the Nour, BDP, Civilization and Originality and other religious parties that emerged following the Constitution of the military council on March 19, 2011, which was a purely sectarian Constitution.
The Supreme Administrative Court’s ruling is decisive and final and may not be appealed, according to Abdulhamid. He said its considerations will be applicable to all religious parties.
“The ruling, in my opinion, is fair and in the public interest of the Egyptian state,” said Ali Syed, former head of June 30 Revolution Coordinating Committee. “It is similar to the dissolution of the NDP and as for its application against the other religious parties, I believe it is just for the public interest since these parties are hotbeds for sedition,” he said.
