Younes Makhyoun

Position: Chairman of Egypt’s conservative Islamic Salafist political party, Al-Nour.

Biography: He was appointed to the role in January 2013.

His appointment came as Al-Nour lost a number of members that went on to form their own separate party.

Makhyoun was one of the politicians and religious heads that stood with army general Abdel Fatah al-Sisi when the general officially announced on national TV the ousting of former Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi on 3 July. He is also wielding influence over the formation of the interim government.

The Al-Nour party was previously an ally of the Muslim Brotherhood which backed the former president. However, Makhyoun oversaw a change of strategy this year, which distanced the party from the former president. By early July, his presence on TV clearly positioned the party with the opposition.

The Al-Nour party has not always been in complete agreement with the other opposition groups, and blocked a decision to appoint Mohamed El-Baradei as prime minister. Makhyoun said he was too liberal a choice. This led to the appointment of Hazem el-Beblawi, a former head of the finance ministry as the interim prime minister.  

Read more on the overthrow of Mohamed Mursi in MEED’s Egypt in crisis section