The Political Parties Affairs Committee on Monday rejected the establishment of Jama'a al-Islamiya's “Construction and Development Party.” In a statement Monday, the committee said it rejected the proposed party for its "purely religious" platform, which violates the law on political parties. The committee said platform states that Islamic hudud - boundaries of acceptable behavior and punishments for crimes - mentioned in Islamic Sharia should be incorporated in Egypt's legislation. Under the political parties law, the committee should submit its reasons for rejecting the party to the Supreme Administrative Court for review within eight days. The Administrative Court has the right to override the committee's decision. Jama'a al-Islamiya, the largest former jihad movement in Egypt, said in June that it intended to establish a political party and filed for its recognition in August. It said the party's principles were justice, equality, freedom, pluralism, shura (consultation) and social solidarity. It said that it would work to spread the political values of Islam and fight smear campaigns against Islamic political theories. Jama'a al-Islamiya engaged in armed confrontations during the rule of ousted president Hosni Mubarak during the 1990s to overthrow his regime and establish an Islamic state. However, its leaders announced several years ago that they abandoned jihadist ideas and apologized for attacks they launched, which led to the deaths of hundreds of people.
