Coptic intellectual Jamāl As'ad said the withdrawal of the church from the constituent assembly was a "bad, unjustifiable attitude," adding the church did so because it was only emboldened by the Azhar's withdrawal.
"There are no disputes on the part of the Copts regarding Article 2 of the Constitution. The existing dispute is mainly between the Salafī al-Nūr Party and other Islamist groups pertaining to the words rulings and principles and which of them should be the main source of legislation," said As'ad in an interview with the al-Hurīyah wal-'Adālah newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP).
He said that Copts do not have certain demands in the constitution. "What Copts want is what all the Egyptian people want. As long as Copts are secure and enjoy practicing their religious rituals without any harassment, then their demands are in agreement with all segments of the Egyptian people". [Fātimah Sābir and Muhammad Abū Hajar, al-Hurīyah wal-'Adālah, May 7, p. 10] Read text in Arabic
