Cairo: Rejecting a request to found a moderate Islamic party

Cairo rejected yesterday a request to found a moderate Islamic party in a decision described by the founders of the party as revealing the non-seriousness of the government's talk about political reforms.

The "al-Wasat al-Jadid party", which calls for adopting a flexible picture of the Islamic Sharia, applied for the foundation in May but the founders of the party said that the request was rejected on Saturday after two similar requests during the 1990s. Lawyer Issam Sultan, one of the founders of the party said that this confirms that the " national party still practices its desire to seize the authority and not to give a place for others."

He added " the slogans to maintain reforms advocated by the national party recently are untrue and false ones." Sultan said that al-Wasat party will appeal the decision taken by the parties affairs committee. The founders of the party indicated that the parties affairs committee refused the request of the party on the ground that its program is not different from that of the standing parties. The party which includes 6 Copts among 200 founding members promised full and complete citizenship for the Christians of Egypt who constitutes 10% of the total population.