Rome, Italy, Dec 3, 2008 / 12:31 pm
Muslim convert to Catholicism and journalist Magdi Allam has launched a new political party in Rome called the “Protagonists for a Christian Europe.” The new party will present candidates for the next European elections on June 7, 2009.
Allam’s new party aims to “fill the ethical void” that exists in Italy and in Europe and will be based on the “Judeo-Christian roots of Europe.” These values “must be recovered and affirmed with clarity now more than ever” in response to the threats of “savage capitalism, relativism and the spread of Islamic extremism,” Allam said.
He also warned of a growing tendency “in some countries of Europe to recognize ‘sharia’ as an integral part of the rule of law, as is occurring already in England, where decisions by private Muslim courts regarding polygamy are indirectly beginning to be legitimized.”
However, he stressed that his party would “not be anti-Islamic,” which is demonstrated by the fact that “a female Muslim is among its founders.”
Allam also noted that he does not define himself as an “ex-Muslim, but rather as an Italian and a Catholic who has chosen to become involved in politics.”
Allam said the new party aims to collaborate in “the building of the common good based on the recognition of the fundamental rights of man” and on “non-negotiable values.”
In this sense, he insisted on the need for Europe to rediscover its own identity. “If you don’t know what the values are in which you believe and what your identity is, you will not be able to be a credible partner in dialogue” with others, he stated.