Last March, Magdi Allam, the Egyptian-born former deputy editor of the
Italian daily, Corriere della Sera,
was fiercely criticized by Muslims for his decision to convert to the Roman
Catholic faith. He recently announced that his next ‘conversion’ will be to
politics.
Allam’s newly established party, Protagonists for Christian Europe
(PCE), will defend Europe’s Christian values, which he claims, have been
threatened by secularism and moral relativism. Open to people of all faiths,
PCE (http://www.protagonistiec.it) will be a
secular party with close ties to the conservative European People’s Party.
Allam says the new party will run in the
upcoming European elections in 2009, and he is already working to establish the
party in Italy, where it will soon be opening up offices.
Explaining why he is renouncing journalism
after 35 years, the 56-year-old Allam said, ‘In the last few years, the need to
put my words to practice grew stronger and stronger.’
