Meanwhile, Bishop Pachomius said he would not congratulate the new prime minister, Hishām Qandīl, over formation of his government that was sworn in before the president on Thursday (Aug. 2) because “the lineup was unfair”.
“This cabinet lineup was unfair to Copts, now that we have expected more Coptic representation in the government after the portfolios were increased to 35. This lineup has ignored all known rights and concepts of citizenship. Copts should not be treated that way,” he said.
Bishop Pachomius noted that Coptic representation in the Qandīl government “should have been no less than four ministers according to the Coptic population in Egypt, which is more than 14% of Egyptians”.
Commenting on the Dahshūr unrest, the acting Coptic Orthodox patriarch said there has been evident persecution of Copts recently.
“It does not make sense when 12 Copts were sentenced to life terms in the Abū Qurqās incidents in al-Minya governorate while the culprits in Dahshūr get away with their forced displacement of 130 Coptic families and the burning of their property, which are worth millions of pounds,” he said. [Ahmad al-Sa’dāwī, al-Shurūq al-Jadīd, Aug. 4, p. 2] Read original text in Arabic
