Sunday, January 08, 2012

Egyptian Christians Celebrate Christmas Amid Islamist Electoral Victory

Egypt’s Christians celebrate Christmas amid fears

By Sarah El Deeb | Associated Press January 08, 2012

Save CAIRO - Egypt’s Christians yesterday celebrated their first Christmas after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, amid tight security and a display of national unity to allay fears of the growing power of Islamists.

The Coptic Orthodox celebration follows an escalation in violence against the minority, an estimated 10 percent of Egypt’s 85 million people, over the past year.

Many Christians blamed a series of street clashes, assaults on churches, and other attacks on radical Islamists who have become increasingly bold after Mubarak’s downfall.

Celebrations of Orthodox Christmas began with a late night Friday Mass at Cairo’s main cathedral, which was attended by prominent figures from across Egypt’s political spectrum. They included leaders of Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group whose associated political party has won nearly half the seats in Parliament.

Members of the ruling military council that took power after Mubarak’s Feb. 11 ouster also attended, including the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Sami Anan, as well as the visiting top US diplomat for the Middle East, Jeffrey Feltman.

Coptic Pope Shenouda III commended their presence and appealed for national unity.

“For the first time in the history of the cathedral, it is packed with all types of Islamist leaders in Egypt,’’ the pope said. “They all agree . . . on the stability of this country and in loving it, and working for it and to work with the Copts as one hand for the sake of Egypt.’’

A series of attacks on churches earlier this year sent thousands of Coptic protesters into the streets, complaining that no culprits were brought to justice.

In a dramatic turn, the latest of these protests in October was violently quelled by the country’s military rulers, leaving 27 people dead.

Some expressed dismay that the church should welcome military leaders, even though justice has yet to be meted against those responsible for the killing of Coptic protesters.

During the Mass at the cathedral, the presence of top military officers angered some in the congregation, who briefly chanted “Down with military rule’’ before being silenced by others.

The political gains of Islamist groups who have dominated the first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections have also made many nervous.

Some Christians are also taking advantage of the more open political atmosphere to assert demands for equal status with Muslims Christians are rarely appointed to top security and government posts, and their beliefs are often savaged by radical Muslim clerics.

Absent from the Christmas celebrations were leaders of the more radical Salafi Al-Nour party, the second-largest bloc in Parliament. Many fear it will seek to push its ultraconservative interpretation of Islam.

Party spokesman Youssri Hamad said Islamic teachings contradict the Christian celebration of Jesus’s birth, and that while his party respects Christian beliefs, its members cannot attend Christmas ceremonies or send Christmas greetings.

He said his party did offer volunteers to protect the churches during the celebrations.

The Brotherhood leaders had left the cathedral before Mass began.

Heavy security had ringed churches around Egypt, with police and army troops manning streets leading to the churches. Volunteers from youth groups had also offered to provide security.

An attack on a church in Alexandria on New Year’s Day last year left 21 people dead and shook the community. The culprits for the attack are still not known.


Egypt’s Islamists Win Final Round of Vote .

OnIslam & News Agencies

Egypt Islamists have won 62% of the party list vote according to partial results of the third round of the country’s elections

CAIRO – Egypt Islamists have consolidated their gains in the country’s first free elections, claiming they have won 62% of the party list vote in the polling in the final nine governorates.

"We are happy with the results and are also happy that there are 15 or 16 parties in the parliament so far," Essam al-Erian, deputy head of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), told Reuters on Saturday, January 7.

"This means all voices will be heard in the parliament," he said, speaking at a party rally which drew hundreds of supporters to a working class district of Cairo.

As the results of the third round of voting began to appear, FJP said on its website that it had garnered 35.2 percent of the party list vote in the polling in the final nine governorates on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Al Nour party of the even more conservative Salafists, said it received 27 percent.

Official results of the voting held this week are due on Saturday, but it will take longer before the exact shape of the 498-seat lower house is known.

The two parties chalked up 65 percent in the first two phases of Egypt’s first general election since the February ouster of president Hosni Mubarak.

The Wafd Party comes third at the expense of the secular Egyptian Bloc, which has won fewer votes in this phase.

One of the surprising results of the final phase is the defeat of Abul Ela Mady, the head of the Wasat Party, who lost against the FJP’s list, led by Saad al-Katatny, which won by a large margin, followed by the Nour Party.

More Voting

Under the complex electoral system adopted after Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, third-round run-offs still have to be held later this month where necessary for the one third of seats.

The run-offs for seats will be contested by individuals in the latest round which will be held on January 10 and 11.

Voting will also be held again in a Cairo district where the election was cancelled due to irregularities in the first round.

According to a complex electoral system, a third of the seats are reserved for individuals.

The other two thirds will be distributed among the lists on a proportional representation basis.

Polls for the upper house of parliament will follow later this month on January 29 and conclude in February.

Once the new parliament has been sworn in, a commission will be appointed to draft a new constitution before presidential elections are held by the end of June.

Though the success of the Brotherhood and Nour Party has alarmed some Egyptians and the Western governments which backed Mubarak, it is unclear to what extent the rival Islamists will cooperate or compete in the new legislature.

Celebrating their victory, Freedom and Justice Party songs blasted out over loudspeakers as their supporters marched in a rally.

"Together we make the future of Egypt," declared a banner at the rally, held in a tent decked out with Egyptian and party flags.

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