The controversy over the El-Nour Islamist Party's decision to add a number of Christians to its list, has gone viral on both the media outlets and social networks. The El-Nour Party, former ally of the Muslim Brotherhood, (MB), and the political wing of The Salafist Call, known as Al Daawa Al Salafiya, which bans Muslims from celebrating Christmas and Easter with Christians, describing these events as a glorification of the infidels' religion, said December that as per the elections regulating law, the party had added a number of Christians to its list. The law regulating the elections stipulates that Copts be represented by 24 candidates on each party's list, in order to guarantee a quota of at least 24 seats in the upcoming parliament. Copts are allowed to run as individuals as well. Suzan Sameer, the Catholic Church's representative for detainees and patients' affairs has faced strong criticism over joining an extremist Islamist party known for its discrimination against Christians and women. "As a Christian, I'm aiming for an inner change of El-Nour's ideologies, rather than fighting for the rights of Copts through sterile channels," Suzan said. "We need a reconciliation between El-Nour and Copts, even if it previously had radical views against Christians", she added. Sameer has alleged that Egyptian Church officials have approved her attempt to run for the next parliamentary elections on El-Nour's lists, an allegation that was officially denied by the Egyptian Catholic Church, the first time in its history that it has reacted to political allegations. Debates broke out on the social networks over the credibility of Suzan Sameer, given that she had previously claimed to be a Muslim, during anti-Salafist Christian's protests, which accused her of compromising her Christian background to join the parliament. Several photos of Suzan wearing a veil have gone viral on the social networks, along with claims she had threatened the Catholic Church with igniting sectarian strife by converting to Islam for personal reasons. The Copts United website strongly condemned Suzan's actions, adding that opportunists like Suzan claim that the Church has approved their actions in order to serve their own interests. The website called on the Church to denounce such people. Copts United added that Suzan's attempts to run for Parliament on El-Nour's list were unacceptable, especially given the party's extremist background. Senior Party officials, including Abu Islam, Yasser Burhamy, Abdel Munem Al Shahat and Hussam Al Bukhary have attacked Copts on several occasions, banning Muslims from congratulating them on Christian religious occasions, and denying their rights to run for president or to become prime minister; and they have besieged the Cathedrals and churches and issued extreme Fatwas, (religious advisory opinions) against Copts. During an interview on the Al-Ashera Masa'an TV show, the Head of the Egyptian National Party, Rafael Paulus accused Sameer of supporting extremist agendas and putting her interests before the Christians' aspirations of equality and freedom of religious worship. Suzan however, responded by blaming the discrimination against Copts on the state rather than on Islamic parties. The head of the Ghad Al Thawra party's committee for citizenship affairs Nader Al Serafy backed Suzan during the interview, stressing that El-Nour was an accredited political party and that its stance on Christians' issues and it's religious background did not violate any laws. He called on Copts to judge the party based on its political views. The El-Nour Party is known for its radical Islamist views which are against nationalism and equality with non-Muslims. The party members who secured a majority of the seats in the 2012 parliament along with the Muslim Brotherhood's Justice and Freedom Party, refused to stand up for the Egyptian National Anthem during the first session of the parliament.
