Hazem Salah Abu Ismail ( ar, حازم صلاح أبو إسماعيل; ) is an Egyptian lawyer, television preacher, and former

presidential candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

. He was a host on ''The Fadfada Show'' which aired on Al-Nas Channel and is the founder of the

Flag Party The Flag Party is a Salafist political party in Egypt. It was founded in 2013 and is headed by Hazem Salah Abu Ismail Hazem Salah Abu Ismail ( ar, حازم صلاح أبو إسماعيل; ) is an Egyptian lawyer, television preacher, and form ...

Presidential candidacy

Abu Ismail applied to be a candidate for the

2012 Egyptian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Egypt in 2012, with the first round on 23 and 24 May 2012 and the second on 16 and 17 June. The 2012 Egyptian Presidential election was the first democratic presidential election of Egypt’s history. The Musli ...

. In early April 2012, he was considered one of the front-runners, and enjoyed notable displays of popular support. In foreign policy, Abu Ismail is in favor of ending the 1979

Egypt–Israel peace treaty The Egypt–Israel peace treaty ( ar, معاهدة السلام المصرية الإسرائيلية, Mu`āhadat as-Salām al-Misrīyah al-'Isrā'īlīyah; he, הסכם השלום בין ישראל למצרים, ''Heskem HaShalom Bein Yisrael ...

and has spoken of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

as a successful model of independence from the United States. His domestic agenda includes

veiling A veil is an article of clothing or hanging cloth that is intended to cover some part of the head or face, or an object of some significance. Veiling has a long history in European, Asian, and African societies. The practice has been prominent i ...

women and segregating them from men in the workplace. On 4 April 2012, the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reported that according to

Californian government The government of California is the governmental structure of the U.S. state of California as established by the California Constitution. California uses the separation of powers system to structure its government. It is composed of three branch ...

documents Abu Ismail's deceased mother held

U.S. citizenship Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

, which would make him ineligible for the presidency under the

Egyptian constitution The Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt is the fundamental law of Egypt. The Egyptian Constitution of 2014 was passed in a referendum in January 2014. The constitution took effect after the results were announced on 18 January 2014. A ...

. He has denied this, stating that she only held a

green card A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...

. On 5 April, the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

confirmed his mother's U.S. citizenship, prompting rallies by thousands of his supporters. In response to a case filed by Abu Ismail, the administrative court ruled against the

Interior Ministry An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

and ordered them to pay litigation expenses and to issue the would-be candidate with a document stating that his mother never held any other citizenship since they couldn't prove otherwise. The electoral commission, whose decisions are immune from

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...

, nonetheless disqualified him on 14 April.

Flag Party founder

Abu Ismail founded the

on 27 February 2013 and had reportedly been in talks to join a political alliance with the recently formed Homeland Party; however, he instead formed the

Nation Alliance Nation Alliance may refer to: * Nation Alliance (Egypt), Egyptian electoral alliance * Nation Alliance Party, former Canadian political party * Nation Alliance (Turkey) The Nation Alliance ( tr, Millet İttifakı), or simply Nation ( tr, M ...

in early March 2013.

Aftermath of coup d'etat

In the aftermath of the

2013 Egyptian coup d'état The 2013 Egyptian coup d'etat took place on 3 July 2013. Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led a coalition to remove the democratically elected President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, from power and suspended the Egyptian constitut ...

, Abu Ismail was arrested on 5 July 2013. On 14 July Egypt's prosecutor general

Hisham Barakat Hisham Muhammad Zaki Barakat ( ''Hišām Muḥammad Zakī Barakāt''; 21 November 1950 – 29 June 2015) was Prosecutor General of Egypt from 2013 to 2015. During his term as state prosecutor, he was responsible for thousands of controversial pro ...

ordered Abu Ismail's assets to be frozen. Abu Ismail appeared in court on 18 November and stated: “If there is no real justice at the court hall, I will cede the defense.” He was sentenced to 1 year imprisonment on 20 January 2014 and received a second sentence of 1 year imprisonment on 12 April for insulting the judiciary. He was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment on 16 April on charges of forging official documents during his application to run for president. He was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment on 29 January 2017 on charges of inciting the besieging of a Nasr City court in December 2012. Egypt Watch, an independent advocacy and research platform, have described his trials and convictions as politically motivated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Ismail, Hazem Salah 1961 births Living people People from Giza Governorate Cairo University alumni 21st-century Egyptian politicians Egyptian Salafis Egyptian Islamists