Egypt's new constitution will accommodate non-Muslims and it is likely that its next government will not be Islamist, the Anglican Bishop of Egypt has said.
Bishop Mouneer Anis, whose diocese also covers North Africa and the Horn of Africa, told The Tablet that when a constitution was being drawn up following the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak, 70 per cent of the committee was Islamist and in the end, Christian representatives withdrew from the process. That constitution, which was approved by President Mohamed Morsi last December, drew on the principles of sharia law.
The bishop said that this time the Christian representatives - Copts and Catholics - have not withdrawn from the drafting process. He said that among the population there was less of an appetite for another Islamist government and a greater suspicion of Islamist politicians.
Bishop Anis regretted the US's decision announced earlier this month to suspend a large part of the aid - including military equipment - that it sends to Egypt. It reviewed its aid policy after weeks of violence sparked by Morsi supporters in the wake of his ousting in July.
He said it was a "superficial reading" to see Morsi as a democratically elected leader removed in a coup - a term US Senator John McCain used. "This Government was dictatorial and fascist," he said.
The bishop is one of many in Egypt who have questioned the validity of the election that swept Morsi to power, and he pointed out that the army immediately installed as interim president a top judge, chief justice Adly Mansour.
Asked about Coptic Pope Tawadros welcoming of the ousting of Morsi on Egyptian television, after which Morsi supporters attacked 139 churches and church buildings, the bishop said the Coptic leader was merely expressing the "heart of all Egyptians", millions of whom had taken to the streets. He said he believes Islamists would have targeted the churches even if Tawadros had not spoken out.
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