The head of the Salafist Nour Party said Wednesday the party's electoral list for the upcoming parliamentary elections will include women on "condition of good morals and wearing hijab (the Muslim head veil)." Youness Makhioun told Al-Ahram Arabic news website the party will field female candidates for the elections and a priority will be set for competent figures. "We have put conditions for the candidacy of women on the lists of Al-Nour Party, like having good manners and reputation, wearing hijab, having experience and qualifications," Makhioun said.
The Salafist Nour Party is the only prominent Islamist party that joined other political forces in the roadmap set forth after the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. Parliamentary elections are expected by the end of the year. The Nour Party won 20 percent of seats in the 2011 parliamentary elections, when Islamists led the political scene after the 2011 uprising. No women candidates made it to the parliament convened in 2012.
During the election campaign of 2011, the Nour Party put pictures of roses instead of the faces of their female candidates. The election law in force mandated placing a quota of female candidates on party lists, but Nour Party female candidates had only a slight chance of winning, mostly being placed at the end of a proportional list. The Salafist interpretation of Islamic Sharia Law mandates that the faces of Muslim woman should not be shown or featured.
