Chairman Ehab Shiha Political position Right-wing | Founded July 2011 House of Representatives 0 / 568 | |
Ideology Religious conservatism
Islamism
Salafism National affiliation National Legitimacy Support Coalition | ||
The Authenticity Party (Arabic: حزب الأصالة, ḥizb el-asala) is one of the political parties created in Egypt after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. It has an ultra-conservative Islamist Salafist ideology, which believes in implementing strict Sharia law. The party was formed by the former head of the Virtue Party, General Adel Abdel Maksoud; he left the Virtue Party after allegedly discovering a plot which changed the moderate principles of the party. The party is considering leaving the Anti-Coup Alliance.
In the 2011–12 Egypt parliamentary elections, the Authenticity party ran on the platform of the Islamist Bloc led by Al-Nour Party, another Salafist party. The Islamist Bloc received 7,534,266 votes out of a total 27,065,135 correct votes (27.8%). The Islamist Bloc gained 127 of the 498 parliamentary seats contested, second-place after the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party. The Authenticity Party received 3 of these 127 seats.
Lawsuit against Islamic parties
The Authenticity Party is one of the eleven Islamic parties targeted by a lawsuit in November 2014, when an organization named Popular Front for opposing the Brotherhoodization of Egypt sought to dissolve all political parties established "on a religious basis." The Alexandria Urgent Matters Court however ruled on 26 November 2014 that it lacked jurisdiction.