Egypt deliberately hiding the number of Christians in the country, says Coptic leader

CB Condez Tuesday, June 14, 2016

A Christian leader has claimed that the Egyptian government is deliberately keeping secret the number of Christians in the country, allegedly because it is afraid that they would demand that Christians occupy some senior posts in the government.

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, chairman of Orascom TMT Holding, speaks during the Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC) in Sharm el-Sheikh, in the South Sinai governorate, south of Cairo, March 14, 2015. | REUTERS/AMR ABDALLAH DALSH

"The Egyptian state doesn't want to reveal the real number of Copts out of fear that it will influence their demands to receive a slice of senior positions in government," said Naguib Sawiris, a Christian politician and businessman, as quoted on Arabi 21 (in English on Breitbart. "The Copts are still not properly represented in the government. The government has one Coptic minister, the Immigration Minister. This is a much different situation than what has existed in Egypt in different periods of history."

According to the report, Sawiris was speaking during a conference called "The Future of Egypt's Religious Minorities: Status of Copts after Two Revolutions," held at the U.S. Capital Building in Washington last week and organized by the Coptic Solidarity organization.

During the conference, Sawiris said that Egypt was opened to extremism by former president Anwar Sadat, and the country is still being controlled by it. He expressed hope that Egypt will have a Christian prime minister and more than one Coptic minister in the government.

"The Copts deserve this," he said. "They never harmed Egypt and never cause any problems."

Sawiris also said that people, rather than taking responsibility for what befalls them, puts the blame on others, such as the U.S. and Israel. He mentioned that it was Egyptians who stripped an old woman and paraded her in the streets.

His comments, however, received backlash on social media, where people reportedly accused him of sectarianism and extremism. Mansoura University professor Mohammed Shukri said he is attempting to divide the country. Others, on the other hand, supported him and said that just like others, Christian Egyptians should have the same rights.

Sawiris is Chief Executive Officer of Orascom Telecom Media & Technology and is the founder of the Free Egyptians Party.

According to the CIA World Factbook's 2012 estimate, only 10 percent of the population of Egypt is Christian, majority of which follow the Coptic Orthodox Church. The other 90 percent is composed of Muslims.