Egypt's supreme administrative court threw out a bid Saturday to create a new party, Al-Tarabout Al-Arabi, which calls for a union of Arab countries, according to court sources. The party had previously been rejected by the Egyptian high court's political party bureau.
The department had told the party's founder Mohamed Saad Hassaballah that his group "brought nothing new" to Egypt's political life, the source added.
The administrative court confirmed the previous ruling. The court said the party "did not present the characteristics of a party and did not offer any advantage to existing parties," the source further conveyed.
The administrative court was set up in 1977, the year after president Anwar Sadat reintroduced the multi-party system to Egypt, banned since the 1952 Egyptian revolution that brought Sadat's predecessor, Gamel Abdel Nasser, to power.
The court falls under the jurisdiction of the high security court and is chaired by the state cabinet chief and includes an equal number of judges and political figures, according to AFP.
President Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party keeps a tight rein on the levers of power in Egypt, bans most Islamist parties and has been accused of rigging elections and having a low tolerance for dissent. (albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
