Many indeed said they had "voted for the eye" – a reference to the
Egyptian Bloc, the coalition that the Church pointed to. Each party has a
campaign symbol so that illiterate voters can identify their choices on
the ballot, and the Bloc's symbol was the eye.
In pockets where their community is concentrated, the flow of
Christians to the polls was strong. In the Cairo district of Shubra, men
and women with cross tattoos on their wrists – a common tradition among
Egyptian Christians – kept lines full through the day. White-haired
elders, equipped with chairs and bottles of water for the long wait,
waited with young men and women who took time off from jobs to get to
the ballot box.
Almost all expressed a common motivation: Stop the Islamists.
"We are voting for liberal parties as a means of survival," said
Farid George, a Christian in the southern city of Assiut. "Egypt is our
country. My kids were raised here and I will die here."
The prospect of an Islamist victory in the election has Egypt's
Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the population of 85
million, terrified that one day strict Islamic law will be imposed. Talk
of leaving Egypt has increasingly circulated among many Christians
since Mubarak's fall, raising fears over the fate of a community that
predates the coming of Islam to the country in the 7th century.
Assiut, a rural province with a capital of the same name 320 kilometers (200 miles) south of Cairo, has the biggest Christian population in the south. It also has a strong presence of Islamic hard-liners. In the 1990s, it was a main battleground between the government and Islamic militants trying to overthrow the state.
The Islamic Group, or Gamaa al-Islamiya, a former militant group that
renounced violence and is now a political party, is believed to have
been behind fliers distributed in Assiut warning that Christians were
trying to block an Islamist victory and that "the enemies of Islam" must
be countered at the ballot box.
"This is dangerous, very dangerous," George, a prominent businessman
with several car dealerships in Assiut, said while talking about the
fliers with his employees. George is himself a candidate in the vote,
though not with the Egyptian Bloc. "I will not have a man in a beard
tell me how dress my wife, how to raise my kids, how to run my
business."
Under Mubarak's nearly 30-year rule, Christians – most of whom belong
to the Coptic Orthodox Church – complained of discrimination by the
Muslim majority and of a second-class status. Their general reaction
only increased their ghettoization: They drew closer to the Church and
relied on Mubarak to protect them. Mubarak did little to advance
Christian civil rights, but his police state ensured certain lines were
not crossed.
"Our country has been stolen from us for 30 years, and we didn't feel
like we lived in our own country," said Hani Mikhail, who runs the
Citizenship League at the All Saints Church in the
Mediterranean coastal
city of Alexandria. The league
is a Church organization formed to
spread awareness of citizenship rights.
"After the revolution this strange feeling came over us – the country
started to feel like ours again and that we want to do something for
Egypt."
The All Saints Church was hit by suicide bombers on New Year's,
killing more than 20 people. Anti-Christian violence accelerated since
Mubarak's fall, blamed by Christians on increasingly bold Islamists.
Salafi preachers have spoken out against the building of churches and
accused Christians of seeking to take over "Islamic" Egypt.
The Church's quiet backing of the Egyptian Bloc and other liberal
factions highlights how it wanted to ensure the community's voice is
heard.
The Coptic Church denies making any official endorsement. Reports of
the list raised an outcry from Islamist groups who accuse the Church of
meddling. Prominent Copts close to the Church leadership have defended
the list in TV appearances – without confirming the Church issued it –
pointing out that many parties are unknown so Christians needed guidance
and that they have a right to ensure their interests.
The Bloc is made up of three liberal, secular-leaning parties,
including one founded and financed by Naguib Sawiris, a Christian
telecoms tycoon who is one of the country's richest men. The alliance is
running a mix of Muslim and Christian candidates.
The Church leadership put the Bloc at the top of a list of candidates
its advised Christians to vote for and distributed the list to the
community through Youth Assemblies, according to multiple Coptic voters
who received the list. The Assemblies are a church body that usually
gives social guidance to youth. The list also circulated on Coptic
Facebook pages.
Five days before the election, the third-highest church official in
Assiut met with Youth Assembly heads and gave them the list to
distribute, saying Christians must not split their vote, according to a
person who attended the meeting. He spoke on condition of anonymity
because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Pastor Al-Qis Baki Sadaqa, head of the Anglican Church in Assiut,
says he won't choose "out of religious motives" but will vote for "the
person who is most qualified. That is modernity." He's voting for
Muslims, though not the Muslim Brotherhood. He's not concerned about the
Brotherhood, saying it's the most moderate of the Islamists. But
Salafis, he says, are the more worrisome because of their "fanaticism"
and "narrowmindedness."
"It's not only Christians who are in danger, but moderate Muslims," the 83-year-old pastor said.
Youssef Sedhoum, a prominent Coptic analyst, said he hopes the
various liberal and secular factions in parliament will unite to balance
the Islamists.
"They are in one boat, and they have to join ranks."
___
Michael reported from Cairo. AP correspondent Hadeel al-Shalchi in Alexandria contributed to this report.
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