The interim head of Egypt’s Coptic church has expressed unhappiness over the composition of the country’s new cabinet, with only one Copt given a minor portfolio, reports said on Saturday.
Bishop Pachomius, who temporarily assumed the reins of the church when Pope Shenuda III died last year, also criticised the security forces for inaction during Muslim attacks on a church and Christian homes this week.
On Thursday, Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, who had pledged to include Coptic representatives in his government, swore in a cabinet that included only one Christian.
“The ministerial line-up is unfair to the Copts, especially given that we expected an increase in the representation of Copts,” he was quoted by independent daily Al-Shuruq as saying.
“In the past, there were fewer ministries… and there were two or three Christian ministers,” another independent daily, Al-Tahrir, quoted him as saying.
“Today, after the number of ministries has increased, there is only one Christian minister, for scientific research,” which he characterised as a “semi-ministry.”
Nadia Eskandar Zukhari is not only the sole Copt in the cabinet, but only one of two women.
Claiming that Copts represent 14 percent of Egypt’s 82 million people, Pachomius said there should be four Christians in the cabinet. Generally accepted estimates put the percentage at between six and 10 percent.
Pachomius’ remarks were published a day after a senior bishop complained about the line-up, while also saying attacks on Christians were on the rise.
“The general climate is turning against Christians,” said Bishop Morcos. “Assaults on Christians have increased,” he told AFP. On Wednesday, Muslims attacked a church and Christian homes in a village outside Cairo, leading to clashes that injured 16 people after a Muslim man died of wounds from a fight with a Christian.
