A survey by the cabinet's Information and Decision Support Center, published on Sunday, revealed that 58 percent of the sample said they would not vote for a president of a different religion than their own, while 36 percent said they would. But the survey said that 60 percent said they would consider voting for candidates of a different religion in parliamentary elections, and 37 percent saying they would not. It also said that 73 percent of Egyptians, Muslims and Christians, are religious and pray regularly. The survey also found that 38 percent of the sample were willing to have friends of other religions, while 62 percent did not, 87 percent would not mind having a neighbor of a different religion, while 13 percent said they would, and 69 percent would buy from shop owners of other religions, while 71 percent would not. It also said that 16 percent agree to omitting the reference of religion on ID cards, while 76 percent were against it, 82 percent believed the government does not differentiate between Muslims and Christians, while 25 percent said it responds more favorably to demands by Christians, and 24 percent said it does not appoint Christians to high posts, while 10 percent said it puts stifling conditions on the building of churches. Concerning problems between Muslims and Christians, 78 percent said there were not any, while 19 percent said there were. Of these affirming the existence of sectarian problems, 50 percent claimed the existence of foreign elements were behind it, 43 percent blamed the former regime, while 9 percent blamed Muslims and 8 percent blamed Christians. On political candidates endorsed by clerics, 65 percent said they would not be affected by a clerics' opinion, 16 percent said they would consider it, and 14 percent said they would follow their cleric's recommendation. On clerics running for political positions, 29 percent were in favor, 22 percent rejected it, and 5 percent were undecided. On the Muslim Brotherhood, 25 percent said they support it, 25 percent said they were indifferent to it, and 21 percent said they were against it. On Salafis, 41 percent partially believed the negative image of them portrayed in the media, 40 percent did not, and 5 percent said they have never heard of the Salafis before. Translated from the Arabic Edition
