Egypt’s Copts face tough choices in looming presidential elections

Dina Ezzat
15/4/2012

Currently under an interim pope, the Coptic Church – and its roughly 10 million followers – grapples with the ongoing debate over Egypt’s imminent presidential contest amid fears of Islamist political ascendancy

It’s Easter Sunday, but it’s hardly a joyful occasion for Egyptian Copts, who are still mourning the recent loss of their longstanding patriarch, Pope Shenouda III, and eyeing domestic political developments with considerable apprehension.

“Grief remains in our hearts over the loss of Pope Shenouda,” said retired Coptic civil servant Audette Abdel-Messih.
In mourning since the pope’s death on 17 March, Abdel-Messih added another reason for this year’s less-than-festive Easter celebrations: “We don’t know what’s going to happen to us. I’m not only talking about us Copts, but I’m speaking about the country in general – nobody knows where Egypt is heading.”
Such sentiments are all too common these days among Egyptians – be they Christian or Muslim.

“Where the country is heading to” has become a catchphrase that many people use to reflect their concern about Egypt’s confused political scene. No consensus has been reached on the fate of a constituent assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution, while many Egyptians – especially those in Coptic and liberal quarters – fear the domineering influence of Islamist political parties. Others, meanwhile, fear the re-instatement of unpopular figures associated with the former regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak.

“As Copts, we accept that Egypt’s president will always be a Muslim – it’s an obvious choice in a country that has a predominantly Muslim population,” said Abdel-Messih. “But we don’t want a president who discriminates against Copts or be forced into the equally horrible alternative of having to emigrate.”

With her children having already immigrated to Canada, Abdel-Messih could easily join them there – but she doesn’t want to. “I was born in this country, I was married here, I had my children here, and it’s here that I want to die,” she said.
But the notion of Egypt “becoming another Saudi Arabia” is something that she cannot reconcile herself with.

“I wouldn’t even mind someone like [former Muslim Brotherhood member Abdel-Moneim] Abul-Fotouh for president, although I prefer [former Arab League chief] Amr Moussa,” said Abdel-Messih. “But I can’t countenance the idea of the presidency going to the Muslim Brotherhood or [Salafist candidate] Hazem Abu-Ismail.”

Such sentiments are common among many Copts, whether from Heliopolis – a middle-class haven in East Cairo – or the capital’s lower-income districts.

Copts generally tend to favour Moussa and Abul-Fotouh as good examples of “moderate Muslims.”

Some Copts also see Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak’s long-time civil aviation minister and his last prime minister, as a viable choice for president.

Omar Suleiman, too, Mubarak’s longstanding spy chief who briefly served as vice president, has also managed to rally some support among Coptic quarters. Many Copts say he is the only one who can thwart what they regard as the otherwise inevitable Islamisation of the country at the hands of hardcore Islamist candidates like Abu-Ismail or the Muslim Brotherhood’s Khairat El-Shater and Mohamed Mursi.
On Sunday, as news broke that Suleiman, Abu-Ismail and El-Shater would all be disqualified from the presidential race for legal reasons, the mood among many Copts – in both Cairo and Alexandria – was positive.

Many expressed particular relief over Abu-Ismail’s disqualification. Some also voiced satisfaction with Suleiman’s exclusion from the presidential contest – despite the possibility of an appeal.

“Suleiman was too closely associated with Mubarak; he’s not suitable for the new era we’re living in,” said Samria Tadros, a resident of Alexandria’s Laurent neighbourhood. “And one can’t forget that when he was in office he failed to have a positive influence.”

Such mixed feelings about Suleiman appear to be shared by Egypt’s official Coptic Church.

According to one source at the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo’s Abbassiya district, when Suleiman’s assistant called the church to say that the presidential hopeful wanted to pay his respects at Easter mass – only hours before he was tentatively disqualified from the race – there had been a distinct sense of apprehension in advance of his visit.

Ultimately, the source said, the Coptic Church’s interim pope decided that he would not close the Cathedral’s doors to any presidential candidate, especially one who would likely curb the anticipated Islamist domination of the state.

Suleiman launched his last-minute presidential bid last week, with a promise to quell any attempt to Islamise the country.
The church’s decision to receive Suleiman and allow him to be photographed with the acting patriarch caused considerable anger among revolutionary quarters. Some young revolutionaries viewed the meeting as an insult to the Coptic role in last year’s Tahrir Square uprising.

“I took part in the revolution like any other Egyptian, and I was struck by the Mubarak regime’s bullets when Suleiman was vice president,” said Coptic activist Mina Maurice. “So I don’t accept that the pope receives Suleiman or gives him any beneficiation.”

The Coptic Church, meanwhile, has repeatedly stated that it is not rallying the “Coptic vote” in favour of a particular candidate.

“They have never told us who to vote for,” said Fekriya, a housekeeper from Ain Shams in a lower-income Heliopolis neighbourhood. “We go to the church and solicit their views on the candidates, but we are not told who to vote for.”
She added: “This was the case during Pope Shenouda’s time and it remains the case now.”

Fekriya herself says she will vote for the same candidate as her husband. “He says he hears good things about Moussa, so maybe – I don’t know,” she said.

Coptic intellectual and activist Youssef Sidhom, for his part, says the church must avoid intervening in the political decisions of its followers. “Ultimately, Copts should stop acting as Copts and should act as Egyptians who are Copts,” he said. “They should choose the candidate that they think would best serve their interests as citizens of this country.”

According to Sidhom, it is within this context that many Copts will refrain from voting for hardcore Islamists “who, to start with, don’t perceive Copts as equal citizens.”

By the same logic, Sidhom finds it “only natural” that some Copts might vote for Abul-Fotouh, who “isn’t just making empty statements about respecting the rights of equal citizenship, but who is actually showing that he intends to do so by including unveiled women and Copts in his campaign.”

Economics professor at the American University in Cairo Samer Atallah is one of the most avid Coptic voices in support of an Abul-Fotouh presidency.

For Atallah, choosing the next president is something that every citizen must do, free from the church’s influence. “The political role played by the church during the Shenouda era must end,” he said. “Copts should not be bound to the church’s particular preference.”

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