Islamic groups appear divided over the announcement by liberal and leftist parties that they intend to form a coalition to run against them in upcoming parliamentary elections.
The Jama’a al-Islamiya and Salafi groups accused the liberals of trying to hijack power, and said they were confident that the Islamists would win a majority in parliament.
“The coalition is a sign of their weakness anyway,” said Jama’a al-Islamiya media spokesman Assem Abdel Maged.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party said political parties have the right to form coalitions, so long as they do not violate the law.
Mohamed Alaa Abul Azayem, founder of the Salafi Egyptian Liberation Party, welcomed the coalition and hoped it would unite with other moderate Islamic groups to face the religious extremists.
But Mohamed Yousry, spokesman of the Salafi al-Nour Party, said, “Excluding Islamic groups from politics is unacceptable, as they are part of the nation.”
Yousry denounced attempts to split political life into a coalition demanding a secular state and another demanding a religious state. "This is against the interests of the country,” he said. “And it helps the remnants of the former regime to re-emerge.”
Adel Afify, president of the Salafi Asala Party, said the Islamists are stronger than the liberal forces in Egypt. “We will sweep them in the elections. All the Egyptian people are with us,” he said.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
