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| Down Under |
| Aussie sheik plans Muslim political party |
| 2007-03-12 |
| Sheik Taj al-Din al-Hilali has defied a ban on talking to the media to predict an Islamic political party will be formed this year. Speaking through an interpreter, the mufti told ABC Radio Australian Muslims need proper political representation. Sheik Hilali, who has already established a political committee of Muslim community elders, said a political party was the next step and predicted one would be formed by the end of the year. "There's a new committee with people who have some experience in politics and most certainly in the future there must be something along those lines," he said. Last week Muslim leaders banned five Islamic clerics, including Sheik Hilali, from talking to the media after they delivered a string of "anti-Australian" messages. The letter, obtained by The Australian, demanded the imams "pause and desist" from talking to any media outlet, in particular Sydney's Arabic community radio station Voice of Islam. The Lebanese Muslim Association warned the clerics that they could lose their positions as spiritual leaders at the nation's largest mosque if they defied the ban. Spokesman Keysar Trad said Sheik Hilali's vision was for a party founded on universal human values and open to all faiths and would attempt to win elections at all levels of Australian politics. Mr Trad said the idea of forming a party had been around for some years but had not progressed past drafting a manifesto. The mufti's proposal was for a party to represent Muslim interests without excluding people of other religions, Mr Trad said. "It's not going to be a party of Muslims only and it's not going to be called the Muslim Party," he said. "The whole idea is to promote fairness across the board and specific values, such as honesty and dignity and equality. "I think it's a good idea to establish a party that can act as an alternative for people who are no longer satisfied with the major parties." The party would fight to put a stop to politicians using the Muslim community as a "political football" and work on promoting greater social harmony, Mr Trad said. It would also try to tackle long-standing legal issues affecting Australian Muslims, such as divorces and marriages not being recognised in other countries. "We've discussed this with the government on a number of instances but we've never actually found them to be able to come up with a solution," he said. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #4 Can we get Keith Ellison to move there? |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2007-03-12 13:58 |
| #3 issues affecting Australian Muslims, such as divorces and marriages not being recognised in other countries. What? Polygamy to 12 year olds and text message divorces not recognized in Australia? The nerve of those beer swilling, barbecue pork eating infidels. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-03-12 13:35 |
| #2 "It's not going to be a party of Muslims only and it's not going to be called the Muslim Party," So, please. Join us... or we'll kill you! |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-03-12 13:16 |
| #1 We will call ourselves... Democrats! |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-03-12 09:44 |