Egypt Changes Election Date Conflicting With Easter After Coptic Christian Outcry
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by JNS.org
Mohamed Morsi. Photo: Jonathan Rashad.
After a large outcry by Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority, Islamist President Mohamed Morsi has changed the upcoming parliamentary election date in order to avoid a conflict with Easter celebrations.
Despite the change, some Coptic leaders expressed dismay over the Islamist government’s disregard for Christians.
“If [the clash of dates] was an unintentional mistake then it can be forgiven as long as it’s corrected. Otherwise it will be a negative message from the president which marginalises the Copts and excludes them from participating in the election,” said former Coptic Member of Parliament Hana Greis, Ahram Online reported.
Meanwhile, the divide between Egypt’s ruling Islamists and the liberal opposition is growing.
The main opposition group—an alliance of left wing secular parties known as the National Salvation Front, led by former International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei—says it will boycott the upcoming parliamentary election, the New York Times reported.
The election has been scheduled to begin on April 27 and will take four stages to complete.
