Egyptian President Appoints New Council of Ministers

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has appointed his council of ministers, whose thirty-five members include one Copt although 10 to 20% of the Egyptian population is Coptic Orthodox. (If the government were to give Copts full representation in the cabinet three to seven of the ministers would be Copts.) The new government's Coptic Orthodox minister is also one of two women heading ministries. Of the thirty-five ministers appointed ten served in previous cabinets under either President Hosni Mubarak or the Egyptian Armed Forces, five belong to the Muslim Brotherhood, and one leads a breakaway faction of the Muslim Brotherhood. More here and here. A full listing of the membership in the new council of ministers can be found here.

Coptic Orthodox Delegation Meets with Morsi

Metropolitan Pachomius of Beheira, locum tenens of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, visited Egyptian President-elect Mohamed Morsi today to congratulate him on his electoral victory. Morsi assured Anba Pachomius and those with him that he would remain in close contact with the Coptic Orthodox Church and that he would not allow any in Egypt to "condescend" to its native Copts. More here.

New Egyptian Government to Include Coptic Vice-President

It has been announced that newly elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party intends to appoint a Copt and also a woman to the Egyptian vice-presidencies as a sign of his intention to be a president for all Egyptians, very much in opposition to his previous campaign comments on the suitability of women and non-Muslims serving in the Egyptian presidency. More here.