CAIRO: Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Moufid Shehab rejected the idea of setting a quota for seats occupied by Copts in the People's Assembly. Copts are an integral part of society and to ask for a number of seats for them in the PA is "an insult because they are capable of actively participating in Egypt's political life [on their own], Shehab said. In June, the PA set a women's quota of 64 seats in the PA - a law that was proposed by the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). Shehab likened this move to "an urgent surgery to treat a social disorder, adding it does not apply to other minority groups. Shehab spoke of Copts who have had a strong impact on Egyptian society, such as former finance minister Makram Ebeid and Boutros Boutros-Ghali, chairman of Egypt's Higher Council for Human Rights and former United Nations secretary general. While Shehab acknowledged that Copts are under-represented in the PA, he said there are other ways to deal with this problem besides setting a quota. "We have to revive Copts' participation inside different political parties, encourage them to join parties and assure them that Egypt enforces the concept of citizenship and equality between all citizens, he added. Hafez Abou Saeda, chairman of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR), said that while Shehab's statements indicate that Muslims in Egypt accept Copts as a part of the society, "the fact remains that there is only one elected Coptic member in the PA. Abou Saeda was referring to Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, secretary general of Al-Wafd party. While Abou Saeda is against setting quotas for any group, be it women or Copts, he said that the problem of minorities in parliament could be solved if each party elects members of minority groups. "If each party was to nominate 10 members in the PA, then they can be three women, three Copts and three Muslims, Abou Saeda suggested. Copts are not fairly represented in parliament, which gives legitimacy to some of their complaints about mistreatment in Egypt, he added. Gamal Mubarak, head of the policies committee at the NDP, said in an interview with state-run television that he condemned what he called "outsiders' attempts to turn Copts [treatment] in Egypt into a political issue in order to shake Egypt's stability.
