"A significant gesture of respect" – Parliamentary elections preponed out of consideration for the Copts

In view of the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), it is a "significant gesture of respect" towards the Copts, that the disputed date for the parliamentary elections in Egypt was preponed. "President Mohammed Mursi made this quick decision in favor of the Copts, to keep the Christian minority from protesting against the parliamentary elections," said the STP's expert on questions regarding Africa, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Monday. Some Egyptian political parties had already called for a boycott of the election during the past few days, emphasizing that the election date is seen as premature.

This weekend – following protests by the Copts – Mursi decided to bring forward the deadline for the first round of the parliamentary elections from April 27 to April 22, 2013. With the original election date, a possible runoff election would have taken place on May 5, the Coptic Christian's Easter Fest.

Last Friday, both the Coptic Church and Coptic organizations had criticized the election date and demanded to defer the ballot. They had accused the Egyptian government of trying to exclude the Copts from the election and the policy-making process by choosing one of the most important Christian holidays for the important election date.