WUNRN
EGYPT - ONLY 2 WOMEN NAMED TO NEW
GOVERNMENT CABINET
August 5, 2012 - Although the president said he heard the
voices of all Egyptians, the much-anticipated government announced last week
has proven to be a disappointment for many as a setback to the ideals that
propelled the revolution that last year toppled Hosni Mubarak.
The new Cabinet drew on Islamists and technocrats as well
as senior bureaucrats from the previous Cabinet, which was appointed by a military
council that still holds considerable political power. Two of the Islamists
were given key posts as ministers of information and education.
“I will not congratulate the prime minister on the new
government because the formation is unjust,” Bishop Pachomious told
Only two women were named to the
government, including Nadia Zukhari, who is also a Copt. Making up almost
52% of the population, women who stood alongside men in the uprising that
deposed Mubarak continue to feel ignored a year and a half after the
revolution.
“The process of forming the government was fake. Giving
women or Copts one or two minor posts does not mean you are being inclusive,”
said Salma Nakash, a researcher at Nazra Feminist Studies and a women’s rights
advocate.
Nakash said she is not only frustrated because the
president failed to include enough women but also because he did not consult
with female politicians or intellectuals.
As the country moves to draft a new constitution, many
liberals, secularists, Christians, women and non-Muslims are focusing on a
document that will protect civil rights at a time when military and the
Islamists are pushing for wider powers.
“The constitution is the answer,” said Youssef Sidhom,
editor in chief of Watany, a Coptic daily. “I am more interested in seeing a
man stand up for women’s rights or a Muslim defend Christian rights. But to
even say we need a woman to defend women or a Copt to defend Christians shows
that