The Muslim Brotherhood, one of Egypt’s prominent political forces, announced it would form its own party to contest up to half the parliamentary seats in the elections scheduled for September.
The group, regarded as the most organized political force after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February, said in a statement on its website that its shura (consultative council) has decided to contest between 45 and 50 percent of the seats.
The Brotherhood’s Shura Council (consultative council) decided at a meeting to form the Freedom and Justice Party, Mohammed Hussein, the group’s secretary general said.
The new party will be headed by Mohammed al-Mursi, a member of the Brotherhood’s politburo, and the party will operate independently from the Brotherhood but will coordinate with it.
Long-time president Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down in February after anti-government protests rocked the capital city of Cairo and other places in the country.
The Muslim Brotherhood is an Islamic organisation, founded in 1928 in Egypt after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. It opposes secular tendencies of Islamic nations and wants return to the precepts of the Quran and rejection of Western influences.
Since its inception, the Brotherhood has been banned or restricted many times due to allegations of political assassinations.