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Al-Wasat Party
Political party in Egypt From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The al-Wasat Party (Arabic: حزب الوسط, romanized: Hizb al-Wasat), translated in English as the Center Party, is a moderate Islamist political party in Egypt.[6]
The party withdrew from the Anti-Coup Alliance on 28 August 2014.[7] A court case was brought forth to dissolve the party,[8] though the Alexandria Urgent Matters Court ruled on 26 November 2014 that it lacked jurisdiction.[9]
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Foundation
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Perspective
The party was founded by Abou Elela Mady in 1996,[10] which Mady accused of having "narrow political horizons." The creation of al-Wasat was criticized by the Brotherhood, which said Mady was trying to split the movement.[11] It was also not well received by the Egyptian government, which brought its founders before a military court on the charge of setting up a party as an Islamist front.
Al-Wasat tried to gain an official license four times between 1996 and 2009, but its application was rejected each time by the political parties committee, which was chaired by a leading member of the ruling National Democratic Party.[11] Political parties formed on the basis of religion have been banned by the Egyptian constitution since an amendment to Article 5 was approved in 2007.[12] The leader of the party, Abou Elela Mady, as well as deputy head Essam Sultan, have been detained following the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état.[13] Elela Mady was released in August 2015.[14]
Recognition
Al-Wasat was granted official recognition on 19 February 2011 after a court in Cairo approved its establishment. The court's ruling was handed down in the wake of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, and made al-Wasat the first new party to gain official status after the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.[15] Its newly acquired official status allowed al-Wasat to compete in the next parliamentary election, and made it the first legal party in Egypt with an Islamic background.[16][17]
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Ideology
According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, al-Wasat "seeks to interpret Islamic sharia principles in a manner consistent with the values of a liberal democratic system. Although al-Wasat advocates a political system that is firmly anchored in Islamic law, it also views sharia principles as flexible and wholly compatible with the principles of pluralism and equal citizenship rights."[5] The party's manifesto accepts the right of a Christian to become head of state in a Muslim-majority country.[16] Its founder Mady likens its ideology to that of the Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP).[11]
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