Egyptian Christians weigh joining Nour Party list
A dispute with the Coptic Church over personal status laws and a new electoral law have led some Christians toward running on the Salafist Nour Party list.
The Salafist Call, also known as the al-Daawa Movement, continues to forbid Muslims to celebrate Christmas with Christians in Egypt on either Dec. 25 or Jan. 6, describing such as a glorification of the infidels’ religion. The movement also forbade Muslims from co-celebrating Easter in 2014. Meanwhile, however, a number of leaders of the Nour Party — the political arm of the Salafist Call — said in December that the issue of a quota for Copts on the party’s list for upcoming parliamentary elections had been resolved, with the party successfully adding a number of Christians to them.
The law governing the elections stipulates that Copts be represented by 24 candidates in the electoral lists of each party at the national level. They are guaranteed at least 24 seats in the next parliament. Copts can also, of course, run for parliamentary seats as individuals.
Al-Monitor has tried to identify the Copts who have chosen to run in the elections on the Nour ticket, despite the Salafist Call's position on holidays and some affiliated sheikhs describing Christians as infidels. Ashraf Tabet and Salah Abdul Maaboud, two leading figures in the Nour Party and members of its senior council, refused to reveal their names, explaining that its list is not final and subject to change if Nour allies with other parties.
The Nour Party is expected to enter into an alliance with some Christian movements that disagree with the Egyptian church over its refusal to amend personal status laws to liberalize Christian divorce. Most notable among such organizations is the Copts 38 Movement. Nour is the only party in Egypt seeking to apply Islamic law, under which Copts might be able to divorce more easily.
