Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Chief of the Armed Forces, has released a decree to the effect that of the 10 deputies appointed to the new parliament
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Chief of the Armed Forces, has released a decree to the effect that of the 10 deputies appointed to the new parliament, which begins its first session today (23 January), five are Copts, bringing the total number of Coptic representatives in parliament to 13.
The five Coptic deputies are Tarek Makram Shaker, Vice President of the Egyptian House in the US; George Nagui Messiha, founder of the Egyptians against Religious Discrimination (MARED); Suzy Adli Nashed, Professor of Economics with the Alexandria University; Hanna Girgis Greiss, former member of the Cabinet’s Committee for combating sectarianism; and Marian Kamal Malak of CTV Coptic Channel. Born in 1984 Malak is the youngest member at the newly formed Parliament. Worth mentioning is that Messiha ran for the last parliamentary elections as the Social Democratic Egyptian Party candidate for the Shubral Kheima constituency, but lost.
A source from the Coptic Orthodox Church has told Watani Online that the Coptic Church did not interfere in any way in the nomination of the Copts appointed to parliament according to a decree by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi issued yesterday (Sunday 21 January).
The source denied a report published in the pages of the Salafi newspaper Al-Rahma (Mercy) claiming that “His Holiness Pope Shenouda III asked Field Marshal Tantawi to appoint the Coptic representatives to parliament.”