The parliamentary elections on October 18 and 19 could witness a unique situation – for the first time, most Islamic parties have refrained from direct or indirect participation, except the Salafi al-Nour Party, which may enter individually or on other party lists, similar to the Muslim Brotherhood in Mubarak’s parliaments.

The parliamentary elections on October 18 and 19 could witness a unique situation – for the first time, most Islamic parties have refrained from direct or indirect participation, except the Salafi al-Nour Party, which may enter individually or on other party lists, similar to the Muslim Brotherhood in Mubarak’s parliaments.

The Islamist parties founded after the January 25 revolution won two-thirds of the seats in the last elected Egypt Parliament in 2011. The Muslim Brotherhood came in the lead followed by the Salafi current represented by al-Nour Party. Today the situation will be markedly different with the Muslim Brotherhood out of the political game since the 2013 ban of the Freedom and Justice Party and the Brotherhood’s official classification as a terrorist group.

Al-Nour Party plays individually

“The Muslim Brotherhood failed to infiltrate the parliamentary elections, either through alliance with other religious parties or the participation of its members,” said Tarek Fahmy, professor of political sciences at Cairo University. “Most of the religious parties that were allied with them, including the Centre Party, the Strong Egypt Party and the Revolution Tomorrow Party, said they would not participate.”

Fahmy added that the Muslim Brotherhood has not tried other means of participation, including the insertion of unknown candidates in other electoral lists.  However, the recent withdrawal of some of these lists will favor al-Nour Party in West Delta and Cairo.

He said the competition would be limited to two lists, In Love with Egypt, which is affiliated to the regime, and al-Nour. To gain popular support, the latter will try to sell itself as the only Islamic group running for the elections, he says.

Rigged process

“How can the Muslim Brotherhood run for the elections while their first, second and third-level leaders are still in prison?” wondered Ahmed Maher, member of the High Commission of the Islamic al-Wasat Party.

“Logic says that the Muslim Brotherhood (or any other Islamic group) will not run for political considerations,” said Maher. “The current situation is very difficult and different from that of Mubarak days when they were able to enter individually or through other parties. Today, no one can talk about genuine elections and hence there is no way to discuss them.”

Maher stressed that the Centre Party has publicly and decisively boycotted the elections. “We are still on our stance because we consider what is happening as a “farce” rather than real elections. The results are previously determined and there is no environment for people to choose and vote.”

“The liberals’ and leftists’ demand that the president should dissolve the parliament in case the Salafis get 60% of the seats, but this is meaningless because that will never happen. Yet, this shows that those people are anti-democratic and that for them, democracy is just a slogan.

 This has been evident since Morsi came to power. He came through elections and was supposed also to leave through elections or a poll, but this did not happen. How can the president dissolve a parliament where a current (whether liberal, Salafi, Muslim Brotherhood or civilian) achieves 60%? Where is the separation of powers and the respect for democracy? This reflects that for them, the concept of democracy is fragile and unreal and is linked to their interests.”

Campaign to ban religious parties

Religious parties have been controversial since their emergence. The Constitution bans parties based on religion, who claim that they only have a religious background. Chancellor Naguib Gabriel, member of the advisory committee of a recently launched campaign, entitled “No religious parties,” said: “The launch of the campaign comes in line with the Constitution unanimously endorsed by the people. Article 74 explicitly bans parties based on religion and requires a parliament that reflects the will of the people. The religious parties constitute high risk to democratic transition.”

Gabriel emphasized that his campaign is moving in two directions. The first is public, through collecting signatures requesting the dissolution of religious parties and warning the public against their risks. The second is legal, through filing cases in the court to dissolve religious parties. The campaign is expected to submit these signatures to the judiciary, with evidence of the practices of these parties.

Gabriel added that the state is willing to achieve political and social balances and complete the roadmap, through parliamentary elections. According to the Constitution, the state may not dissolve parties without a court ruling. He blamed the control of religious orientation on what he described as cartoon parties that do not exist in the street.

The judiciary decides

Dr. Yasser Borhamy, vice president of the Salafist Call, refuses the campaigns against Islamic parties. “The laws and Constitution are on our side and do not recognize collecting signatures against a political party,” he said. “It is the court that determines the legality of a party. Al-Nour Party cannot be dissolved at the behest of some people even if they were able to compile signatures. We do not care because al-Nour Party participated contributed to the constitution-building and the success of the roadmap.”

He added that the Salafis are a patriotic group who stood against the Muslim Brotherhood and participated in the roadmap from the adoption of the Constitution, through presidential elections, to the upcoming parliamentary elections. “We will resort to the elections, which will reflect the real popularity on the ground. Al-Nour Party should not be excluded.”

 A mere 15%

In the end, Ahmed Ban, an expert in Islamist movement, indicated that we do not need to emphasize the threat of religious parties in the political life, especially after the Muslim Brotherhood experience in power. The people are so much aware of this experience that they will never be fooled by any slogan, behavior or program. “I am not against dissolving the religious parties, provided that it is done in accordance with the Constitution, the law and international charters of rights and freedoms,” Ban said. “There are about 15 religious parties, among more than 100 Egyptian parties, namely 15% of the total. This figure is an indication of the actual size of the Islamists in Egypt.”