CAIRO: A war of words broke out between MP Mostafa El Fiqi, head of the foreign affairs committee at a lecture, and Refaat Fikry, Patriarch of the Anglican Church in Shubra, over Article 2 of the constitution.
The contested Article says the Sharia is the main source of legislation. El Fiqi did not believe that Copts wanted this article changed.
He said Fikry’s claims that the article conflicts with the concept of citizenship is a form of “fanaticism and sectarianism.
El Fiqi said he had met numerous leading figures in the Coptic community including Boutros Ghali, businessmen Onsi Sawiris and Mounir Ghabour, Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour and Youssef Sidhom, the editor-in-chief of Watani newspaper, who demanded the constitution give Copts a bigger role.
But, he said, they were flexible and reasonable enough to say that Article 2 should be left untouched. They also refused her idea of specifying a quota of Coptic representatives in Parliament.
“Yes, the state’s religion and cultural heritage are Islamic, but citizenship rights are the decisive factor in equality between Egyptians, he said. “I don’t see a reason for some Copts’ concern over Article 2. Islam has always dealt with non-Muslim.
But Fikry was disturbed by the El Fiqi “spoke in the name of Copts explaining that they didn’t ask for the amendment of Article 2.
“Copts haven’t designated anyone to speak on their behalf, Fikry said.
“But Article 2 conflicts with the concept of citizenship because it overrides the idea of pluralism in Egypt, he added. “It isn’t fair that the government imposes the laws of one religion on other religions . By doing this, the state denies the rights of its citizens of other faiths. This is discrimination and a violation of all international conventions and the rights and duties stipulated by the constitution.
El Fiqi was supported by Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated MP Ahmed Abu Baraka, who said that unlike Islam, Christianity and Judaism did not specify a ruling system.
He pointed out that Islam protects the rights of other religions and is nothing like the medieval European notion of “divine right .
The heated discussion echoed other Copts’ concerns about Article 2.
Bishop Morqos, spokesperson of the Coptic Orthodox Church, demanded the article be amended in an interview published in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm.
The Switzerland-based Coptic Diaspora, headed by businessman Adly Abadier, is leading a campaign to cancel Article 2 altogether. Two thousand people signed a petition to support it.
Meanwhile, other politically active Copts think it is not the right time for this controversy, which may undermine national demands to amend more important articles pertaining to the rotation of power.
“Addressing this issue will get us sidetracked, Coptic writer Kamal Zakher told The Daily Star Egypt. “Right now the Egyptian street rejects it [the amendment to Article 2], because it is infiltrated by Islamic extremists.
