The Egyptian Union for Human Rights Organization (EUHRO) issued a statement on Sunday calling on the government to reserve a set number of parliamentary seats for Coptic Christians, stressing the need to take Jordan's recently-concluded parliamentary elections as a model. The EUHRO pointed out that nine out of 120 seats in Jordan's parliament--8.5 percent--were held by Copts, who account for only 250,000 out of Jordan's total population of 6 million. “In Egypt, over the past four decades, meanwhile, Christian representatives have accounted for less than 0.5 percent of parliament,” the rights group noted. “The total number of Christians represented in the next parliament, after being reduced by the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) and marginalized by other parties, will not exceed 12 out of 520 seats, representing a mere 2 percent of parliament,” the EUHRO added. Copts, estimated at roughly 10 percent of Egypt's 80 million-strong population, complain that they are underrepresented in both houses of parliament. In related news, the Coptic Christian community in Alexandria recently expressed its anger over an NDP decision to pass over party candidates for 28 November parliamentary elections who had been nominated by the Coptic Church. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
