CAIRO: In a new escalation by Copts Abroad, the American Coptic Assembly and the Free Copts Association, they have called on the Coptic community in Egypt not to vote for President Mubarak, or any candidate from the NDP as a result of what they called negligence on the part of the government. The statement from the Coptic organizations also called on the Copts in Egypt not to vote for the Muslim Brotherhood in both Parliamentary and Presidential Elections this year and in 2011. The two organizations said in a statement on Saturday that there is evidence of “connivance†of members of the National Democratic Party and the security services in the events of NaJ Hammadi, in which 7 were killed, including 6 Egyptian Copts and a Muslim security guard on Coptic Christmas Eve in front of the Church of St. John in Nag Hammadi in southern Egypt. The statement also pointed to the security services’ involvement in “most of the previous sectarian incidents in Farshout and Damas in Meet Ghamr in Menofiyah Governorate, in addition to the events of Dirout, Minya, Deir Mawas and Alexandria.†The statement added that Christians must reject the principle of “holding elections by two exclusive factions, the NDP and the Muslim Brotherhood. They demanded to “open the door freely before the nomination for all parties and other national forces, for the exercise of true democracy.†Washington DC has witnessed, at the same time, the meeting of the Coalition of the Egyptian Organizations Abroad to discuss ways to pressure the Egyptian regime to amend Article 76 of the Constitution – which allows for the Emergency Laws to remain – and to mobilize strong national and popular movements to amend it, with the presence of a group of Egyptian Activists Abroad, headed by Saad Eddin Ibrahim, director of Ibn Khaldun Center in Cairo. The Coalition members addressed the deteriorating situation in Egypt, internally, in terms of civil and political liberties, and discussed how to describe this image to the American administration in order to convince President Obama “to put pressure on the Egyptian regime for further reforms.†Egyptian daily newspaper al-Dostour reported that Abdel Halim Qandeel, a political activist and a member of the coalition, stressed in the meeting that the amendment of some of the controversial articles of the Constitution, notably articles 76 and 77 “come as the top priorities at the moment,†pointing out that it is “the most important political reform steps that must be used by the regime, if they have the desire to achieve real reform.†He explained that the coalition has not settled on the support of an upcoming presidential election candidate, but he pointed out that the former IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei is the “closest potential candidate, who enjoys wide popular support inside and outside Egypt.†BM
