Nour Party acting president Sayed Mostafa Khalifa said Saturday that the party will not field any candidates for the upcoming reshuffled Cabinet.
In an interview with the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Khalifa said, “We will not submit nominations for the new Cabinet. There is no communication between the Nour Party and Prime Minister Hesham Qandil is this regard.”
Khalifa added that there have been no financial disputes within the party since the resignation of former head Emad Abdel Ghafour, who has established a new party with a number of other former Nour Party members.
“Resignations will not affect the Nour Party base nationwide, from Alexandria to Aswan. They represent nothing regarding the party’s body, since they are very few,” he said.
Khalifa also said that the party’s general assembly was preparing for elections 9 January to elect the party’s next head and supreme body.
“The membership committee is currently working on draft law on the electoral college in the governorates to select the candidates,” he said.
Khalifa added that there are not any plans yet for the Nour Party to coordinate with the new Salafi-oriented Watan Party founded by Abdel Ghafour, saying, “It’s still early to discuss electoral alliances. New alliances will surface the political life in Egypt. Political parties’ map will also change.”
Abdel Ghafour officially resigned from the Nour Party after what he described as “intervention by members of the Salafi Front in the party’s affairs.” He founded the Watan Party along with several prominent Salafi figures last week, saying the party was open to all.
Meanwhile, Khalifa also dismissed accusations that the Muslim Brotherhood was responsible for division within the Nour Party, saying that the party faced a “new political life.”
“I would rule out leveling accusations [against] others” he said.
