The Coptic Orthodox Church has said that it would respect the final results of the presidential election and is not concerned by a potential Muslim Brotherhood victory.
Preliminary results have indicated that the Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsy is narrowly leading against former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq. The Presidential Elections Commission plans to announce the final results on Thursday.
Father Angelos, secretary of acting Pope Bishop Pachomius, said the church has no concern about Morsy’s possible victory. “We ought to give the winner the chance to rebuild the country,” he said.
Angelos stressed that the church would cooperate with any candidate and said that the president would have aspirations to push the country forward and would need people’s backing to achieve his goals.
Christian leaders reiterated their neutrality in the presidential race on many occasions, stressing that the Christian community had been given freedom of choice without church interference.
But Copts, reportedly wary of Islamists’ expanding political influence, had also faced accusations of being the driving force behind Shafiq’s strong showing in the first round of the election.
Edited translation from MENA