Meanwhile, the government turned down the draft law forwarded by Coptic lawmaker ‘Ihāb ‘Ādil Ramzī on the enactment of a unified law for the construction of houses of worship.

Assistant Minister of Justice Counselor ‘Umar al-Sharīf and representative of the ministry of awqāf (endowments) Jamāl Fahmī, justifying their rejection, said the government already has a draft law under the same name and is very similar to the one submitted by MP Ramzī.

During the People’s Assembly proposals & complaints committee meeting on Tuesday (March 20), MPs from al-Nūr said they refuse the draft law “altogether for other reasons,” wondering, “How should we equalize a house of worship for only five million people to another for 80 millions?” [Muhammad Abū Zayd, al-Shurūq al-Jadīd, March 21, p. 1] Read original text in Arabic