In a rift between its reformist and conservative wings, members of the Al-Nour party in different governorates are calling for protests to advocate the decision taken by Emad Abd Al-Ghafour, party chairman, to postpone internal elections.
Al-Ghafour wants to postpone until after legislative elections following complaints in the run up to the polls about the Membership Affairs Committee responsible for running elections .
Al-Nour’s Supreme Committee however, wants to hold elections on time.
Ashraf Thabet, a member of the Supreme Committee, said he respected Abd Al-Ghafour, but decisions should be taken by voting and Shura (consultation), not individually.
He added that the party regulations state examining complaints is under the jurisdiction of a special committee composed of sheikhs; the head of the party has no right to take such a decision.
Thabet also said elections had already been held in 19 governorates. Yousri Hammad, the party spokesperson said on Saturday, that elections were postponed until all complaints were reviewed and the Membership Affairs Committee was dissolved.
“The Membership Affairs Committee is still functioning and was never dissolved” Thabet said.
He added that the Al-Nour Supreme Commitee met on Tuesday night to decide the date of the elections in the remaining eight governorates.
Al-Nour party elections were scheduled to be early September, then postponed because the party held tests for its members to raise their awareness ahead of the elections. Members of the party later filed complaints against the Membership Affairs Committee and its subcommittees accusing it of lacking transparency in election management.
On a separate note, a delegation of Al-Nour party members who are also members of the constituent assembly, met with the executive board of the Judges Club late on Monday to discuss the situation of the legislative authority in the new constitution, reported Al-Youm Al-Sabaa.
