Hopes for a non-Islamist constitution

EGYPT’S NEW constitution will accommodate non-Muslims and the next government is unlikely to 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, approved by President Mohamed Mursi 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The bishop said that this time the Christian representatives – Copts and Catholics – have not withdrawn from the drafting process.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 after 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.

He said Cairo was now receiving more aid from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and UAE. “We expected that [the US] would stand by us as we fight terrorism, but that’s not the case. The West’s misjudgement on aid and Morsi has led to an increase in lawlessness,” he said. “The army saved the country from civil war.”