Asharq Al-Awsat interview: Al-Nur Party chief Emad al-Din Abdul Ghafoor

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat- Dr Emad al-Din Abdul Ghafoor, leader of the Salafi Al-Nur Party in Egypt, has rejected the calls for taking to the streets, which some people have threatened if Lt-Gen Ahmad Shafiq, last prime minister in the era of Mubarak, wins in the presidential elections. Abdul Ghafoor says: “It is inconceivable that we accept the premise, but do not accept the result.”

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Abdul Ghafoor says: “The role of the Consultative Council (formed to assist the ruling Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces [SCAF]) will end after the election of the new president and it will be dissolved.” Abdul Ghafoor stresses that Al-Nur Party will deal with the upcoming president even if he is not Islamist.

The following are the highlights of the interview:

[Asharq Al-Awsat] How do you view Egypt at the moment?

[Abdul Ghafoor] We have advanced a long way toward democracy. The first part was the releasing of the freedom to establish political parties after the 25 January revolution, and the elections of the People’s Assembly and the Consultative Council (the first and second chambers of parliament), and now the Egyptian presidency elections are taking place, and also the constituent assembly for drafting the constitution is going to be established. If all these steps are taken, we can say: We are moving toward a new stage of freedom in Egypt, and toward the transfer of powers. Thus, after more than 60 years, we will see the first non-military government in Egypt. We hope to take real steps to restore security and sovereignty of law in the street, and to spread the state authority and the respect of man. After that we can move into another battle, which is the economic development, in order to achieve more stability for the ordinary citizen.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] How would you assess Egypt’s first presidential elections?

[Abdul Ghafoor] The elections are a watershed in the history of Egypt. Even if elections are something normal in the United States, the western countries, and many of the world countries, as far as Egypt is concerned, the elections are an event to be recorded in history, because for the first time in the history of modern Egypt elections are conducted with a high degree of transparency and impartiality.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] But some people have emphasized that there have been some violations that tarnished the electoral process?

[Abdul Ghafoor] I would like to say that even in the United States, the country with the greatest freedom and impartiality, there are “arguments” about the presidential elections, and there are appeals against them. People always talk about violations. However, I say that these violations have not affected the progress of the electoral process, and are hardly worth mentioning. Exceptions have not been the core of the presidential elections; during the era of former President Hosni Mubarak, fraud was the rule, and impartiality and transparency were the exception. As for those who are talking about finding 8 electoral cards for individuals who have died, even if there were 1,000 or 10,000 cards, this would not affect the elections, contrary to the hundreds of thousands of cards which were forged under the previous regime.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] There is a belief that if one of the candidates affiliated to the previous regime wins, the country will fall into a state of chaos. What are your thoughts?

[Abdul Ghafoor] It is inconceivable to accept the premise, but not to accept the result. It is unreasonable to accept a law, and demand that it is applied only for your benefit.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Al-Nur Party has supported Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh. If Mursi and Shafiq are through to the second round, who will the party support?

[Abdul Ghafoor] We will meet to know the opinions of the members of the party, and decide who to support in the second round. I can say who I support, but I do not accept to impose my opinion on the party, or to encroach upon the rights of others.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] More frankly, in case of a second round held between an Islamist and a non-Islamist candidate, for whom would you vote?

[Abdul Ghafoor] We will support the Islamist candidate, this is our thinking.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] If a non-Islamist president is elected, will Al-Nur Party deal with him?

[Abdul Ghafoor] Al-Nur Party is not a party of an individual. It is a popular and partisan bloc, and a large entity; any president, who is elected, whether Islamist or non-Islamist, will deal with the party, and similarly, the party will deal with any president who comes whether he is Islamist or non-Islamist.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] The ruling SCAF has promised to hand over power at the end of June. Are they sincere in their promise?

[Abdul Ghafoor] Power consists of parts. The fact is that the military institution has been in power for 30 years, and hence it has in its possession many domestic and foreign dossiers that are difficult to hand over on this date. SCAF will be sincere in handing over power to the elected president, but it is partial power, because the handing over of power in Egypt requires time.

Since the July 1952 revolution Egypt has been under a president who stemmed from the military institution (the Egyptian Armed Forces). However, SCAF, which has been commissioned to manage the country since the toppling of Mubarak in February 2011, said that it pursues handing over power to an elected civilian president for the first time in the history of Egypt.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Has the nature of work of the Consultative Council been defined after the election of the president?

[Abdul Ghafoor] The Consultative Council was formed after the events of the clashes in Muhammad Mahmud Street (around the Interior Ministry) between the demonstrators and the security forces in November 2011 to help SCAF, because of the weakness of communication between SCAF and the strata of the people. The aim of forming it was to present the tendencies and ideas of SCAF in order to discuss them and find the most suitable among them. However, after the resignation of its former chairman, Mansur Hasan, there were many resignations from the Council, and after that its current chairman, Samih Ashur, suspended the sessions. The fact is that all these events have weakened the council, and as soon as a new president is elected, its work will stop completely.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] What about the formation of the constituent assembly for drafting the constitution?

[Abdul Ghafoor] We have reached excellent and final results at the assembly, but the stoppage by some political powers to work has hindered the work of the assembly, which said: “the assembly will not take a single step until after the elections.” These blocs had the majority, and we now wait until after the presidential elections. As soon as a president is elected, the assembly will resume its work.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] In your opinion, do you consider that the crisis of the assembly has ended?

[Abdul Ghafoor] The crisis of the constituent assembly has ended, and all the political powers have agreed on criteria for it and for the personalities that will undertake drafting the constitution. It has been agreed to select all the members of the assembly from outside [parliament], with 37 percent of the members from the political parties, which will be allocated according to the relative weight of every party in parliament; 15 seats for judicial figures and constitutional scholars; and nine seats for the religious institutions, such as Al-Azhar. Al-Nur Party has conceded its right to be represented in the constituent assembly in order to put an end to the crisis, and for all the political powers to agree on a single principle in order to spare the country new conflicts.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Many in society seem to confuse the Al-Nur Party with the many other Salafi movements. How does the party deal with this problem?

[Abdul Ghafoor] There has been a great difficulty in changing the viewpoint, and distinguishing between Al-Nur Party, as a political party and movement that exists in the political life, and the other existing Salafi tendencies, especially after the behavior and stances adopted by some tendencies toward the Christians in Egypt. This has been explained, so has Al-Nur Party’s stance toward the issues of women. All these issues have been discussed in order to explain our viewpoint.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] But some people consider that there is no concord between Al-Nur Party and the Salafi call?

[Abdul Ghafoor] No, there is freedom and democracy, and we argue with the Salafi call on the issues that encroach upon the jurisprudence viewpoint. What I mean is that we have our ulema, to whom we refer in the Sharia issues, and the Salafi call does not interfere in the affairs of the party, but it is the popular backing that supports us at any elections or political stances.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] You have stated that the Al-Abbasiyah detainees will be released soon. is this true?

[Abdul Ghafoor] It is true. I have met an official, who is responsible directly for the dossier of those detained as the Al-Abbasiyah events (those who were detained at the million-man demonstration of ‘End Friday’ around the Ministry of Defense), and I obtained a promise from him to release most of the detainees during the upcoming week. Moreover, Al-Nur Party has not stopped demanding the rights of the detainees; indeed a number of detainees were released after the intervention of the party.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Some statements by the party leaders frequently spark controversy in the country. What have you done to confront this?

[Abdul Ghafoor] I have called on the sons of the party, particularly the media spokesman, to adhere to calmness in their statements, especially during the presidential elections about which many accusations have been leveled at us. I have instructed them that however much some people try to provoke you, do not be dragged into this; I also instructed them to abandon controversy and adhere to work.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Frankly, how do you see Al-Nur Party a year and half after its establishment?

[Abdul Ghafoor] I admit that the party has not yet achieved its lofty aims, and we still have a great deal to do until we reach our aim of improvement. We are committed to continue to work and to avoid a great deal of noise and talk.