CAIRO, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- The ruling military council in Egypt said it approved a plan to for a new political party led by a top official at the disbanded National Democratic Party.
Judicial sources told Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm that a political affairs committee approved of plans to launch the Union Party. It would be led by Hossam Badrawy, the former secretary-general of the disbanded National Democratic Party.
Military authorities dismantled the NDP, the party led by former President Hosni Mubarak, in April. Mubarak, on trial for murder in connection with the deaths of unarmed demonstrators, was ousted in a February revolution after serving as president of Egypt for three decades.
Political authorities rejected a proposal from Islamic group Jama'a al-Islamiya to form the Construction and Development Party. Authorities said the movement's platform was "purely religious," a stance that violates Egyptian laws on political parties.
The group in June announced plans to establish a political party. It was linked to violence targeting Mubarak's regime in the 1990s but reversed course and later apologized for its previous militancy.
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the longest standing political movements in Egypt, ran during 2010 parliamentary elections under the slogan "Islam is the Solution." It's coordinating its political activity in post-revolution Egypt under the Freedom and Justice Party.
Parliamentary elections in Egypt are to be conducted before the end of the year.
