The head of Al-Nour Party, Emad Abdel Ghafoor, announced the withdrawal of the Salafi political entity from the Democratic Coalition for Egypt. He told Youm7 the party will not participate in the unified electoral list prepared by the coalition, composed of 28 political parties, running for the next parliamentary elections. Giving his first response, an official in the Islamic Group, Safwat Abdel Ghany, defended Al-Nour Party's decision. He blamed what he described “as small secular parties” work to gain a large number of the parliamentary seats at the expense of Islamic powers despite the big difference in popularity. Abdel Ghany said the Islamic Group still participates in the coalition since it believes in the importance of unity among the different political powers in Egypt's current stage. He warned of the secular parties' efforts, which may lead to the withdrawal of the Islamic Group from the coalition. Abdel Ghany stressed if the group withdraws from the coalition, it will call for a unification of all Islamic powers in the next parliamentary elections by forming an Islamic coalition with a unified electoral list. Meanwhile, Islamists youths called for coordination among the Islamic powers during the next parliamentary elections. They announced they will prepare training volunteers to support the Islamist' electoral campaigns before the next elections. On the other hand, the head of the Salafi Al-Asala Party, Adel Abdel Maksood, did not respond to the withdrawal of Al-Nour Party. He stressed Al-Asala Party's insistence on participating in the democratic coalition.
