Islamist parties are considering putting forth one list of candidates to run in the next parliamentary elections to counter the National Salvation Front’s coalition of liberal and secular forces, Islamist partisan sources said Wednesday.
The Islamist parties are discussing a new electoral alliance in an effort to win a majority in the House of Representatives, the newly renamed lower house of Parliament, the sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm on condition of anonymity.
They added that there will be coordination between the Salafi-oriented Nour and Asala parties, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and Jama’a al-Islamiya’s Construction and Development Party.
An alliance led by the FJP won over 46 percent of lower house seats in the 2011-2012 parliamentary elections.
Nour Party spokesperson Nader Bakkar told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Islamist parties have not agreed on the details of how they will cooperate during the upcoming elections, but talks are ongoing. Bakkar said it was possible that the parties would run together on a joint list or would run separately but coordinate candidates and constituencies.
FJP Shura Council MP Saad Omara said the party has called on all political forces, including the National Salvation Front, to consolidate lists in the parliamentary elections. The opposition has not yet responded, he said, but if the parties making up the National Salvation Front are running on a joint list, Islamists would do the same.
Omara said the Muslim Brotherhood welcomes organization among all political forces, not just Islamists.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
