Some newspapers have leaked information about secret negotiations between the National Democratic Party and some expatriate Coptic leaders concerning the inclusion of 20 Coptic nominees in the upcoming parliamentary elections. According to the reports, the National Democratic Party assigned ‘Umar Harīdī, secretary of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, to travel to America to negotiate with expatriate Copts. However, Harīdī stated to al-Isbū‘ that he will not talk about this issue now and at the same time did not confirm the leaked information about nominating some expatriate Copts.
The author questions who is behind leaking such information and why it comes out at this time in particular.
Some analysts view that the decision of the National Democratic Party to negotiate with expatriate Copts is true and the Party intends to thwart Coptic support abroad for Muhammad al-Barad‘ī, the head of the National Association for Change [Reviewer comment: al-Barad‘ī is the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a Nobel Prize Laureate. He stated that he may nominate himself for the coming presidential elections in Egypt in 2011]. However, the author argues, this analysis presents a narrow understanding of the policy that the National Democratic Party has been following for two years.
First, the author argues, al-Barad‘ī does not represent a real headache to the regime. Second, the National Democratic Party has desired coordination with Copts since 2007, as a response to foreign pressures which accuse the Egyptian Government of depriving Copts of their political rights. The party is still deciding how to deal with Copts in the coming legislative elections.
Steps have sped up in this respect over the past two years. They reached their peak last month, after the visit of Ahmad ‘Izz, organizational secretary in the National Democratic Party, to Pope Shenouda. Although what is known of this visit mentioned nothing about the party’s nomination of Copts, what has been revealed is that Ahmad ‘Izz is seeking to gain the Church’s loyalty and support, even temporarily, through future promises about the participation of Copts in politics.
‘Izz’s visit to the Pope was organized by Hānī ‘Azīz, member of the Secretariat for Foreign Relations in the National Democratic Party and advisor of the Foreign Relation Committee in the People’s Assembly. ‘Azīz is the architect of the regime-church relations during this current period. The author argues that it is impossible for it to be a coincidence that Ahmad ‘Izz meets the Pope and shortly afterwards information is leaked about the ruling party’s intention to nominate some expatriate Copts in the coming legislative elections. However, the author argues, it seems that ‘Izz forgot that many expatriate Copts, especially prominent figures, have double nationalities, and hence, cannot be nominated for the elections.
Mamdūh Ramzī [Reviewer comment: The author did not mention his title] considered the statements about the travel of ‘Umar Harīdī to negotiate with expatriate Copts are just talks for local consumption. Whatever the truth may be, the representation of Copts in parliament should not be built on a sectarian basis, and Coptic figures should be nominated away from the Church or any religious reference, stressed Ramzī.
