CAIRO - The moderate Egyptians have the right to be concerned about extremist Islamists entering Parliament and their possible involvement in the committee that will draw up Egypt's new Constitution, according to the MPs' vision. The reason is that extremists, mainly the Salafists, insist on strictly enforcing the Islamic Shari'a, totally ignoring the developments and changes in Muslim society. Even before the parliamentary elections, some Salafists announced the creation of the ‘Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice', along the lines of Saudi Arabia's religious police. The Salafists' political party, Al-Nur, denies this, but the youth who announced the launching of this committee on the Internet affirm that they took this step after consulting their senior sheikhs. Apart from a statement by a senior Al-Azhar sheikh, no State authority has condemned the formation of this committee, despite the fact that its members of recently appeared in some streets in the Delta City of el-Zaqaziq, trying to force male and female commuters to ride in separate microbuses. This particularly angered one man, who refused to have to ride in a separate microbus from his wife. In Saudi Arabia, the CPVPV works on enforcing the Shari'a. Members of this committee patrol the streets enforcing dress codes, and strict separation of men and women, along with enforcing the closure of shops during prayer times. They even enjoy the power to arrest anyone engaging in an act they consider ‘sinful', such as a man and woman walking down the street together by day or night. The Government should condemn what happened in el-Zaqaziq, warning the perpetrators that they will be punished. Firmness is the only way to stop such extremist ideas from becoming a de facto.
