Authenticity Party
Political party in Egypt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Authenticity Party (Arabic: حزب الأصالة, ḥizb el-asala) is one of the political parties created in Egypt after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. It has an ultra-conservative Islamist Salafist ideology, which believes in implementing strict Sharia law.[4]
Authenticity Party حزب الأصالة | |
|---|---|
| |
| Chairman | Ehab Shiha[1] |
| Founded | July 2011[2] |
| Ideology | Religious conservatism Islamism Salafism |
| Political position | Far-right |
| National affiliation | National Legitimacy Support Coalition[3] |
| House of Representatives | 0 / 568 |
History
The party was formed by the former head of the Virtue Party, General Adel Abdel Maksoud; he left the Virtue Party after allegedly discovering a plot which changed the moderate principles of the party.[5]
The party joined the Democratic Alliance for Egypt ahead of the 2011–12 Egypt parliamentary elections,[6] though it withdrew and formed the Islamist Bloc alongside the Al-Nour Party, another Salafist party, and the Building and Development Party, the political wing of Al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya; both parties were also part of the Democratic Alliance for Egypt.[7] The Islamist Bloc received 7,534,266 votes out of a total 27,065,135 correct votes (27.8%) and gained 127 of the 498 parliamentary seats contested, second-place after the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party. The Authenticity Party received 3 of these 127 seats.[8]
The Authenticity Party joined the National Legitimacy Support Coalition.[3] The party was considering leaving the Anti-Coup Alliance in October 2014.[9]
Electoral history
People's Assembly elections
| Election | Seats | +/– |
|---|---|---|
| 2011–12 (as part of Islamist Bloc) | 3 / 596 |
 3 |
Lawsuit against Islamic parties
The Authenticity Party is one of the eleven Islamic parties targeted by a lawsuit in November 2014, when an organization named Popular Front for opposing the Brotherhoodization of Egypt sought to dissolve all political parties established "on a religious basis."[10] The Alexandria Urgent Matters Court however ruled on 26 November 2014 that it lacked jurisdiction.[11]
