Egypt: Comboni missionary says 'everything is up for discussion'

Zabbaleen children - Wiki images

Egypt is currently facing a series of economic and and wage demands that are affecting different economic sectors. Fr Luciano Verdoscia, a Comboni missionary who has worked in Cairo for years with the children who live in Mansheya, the Coptic Christian community of garbage collectors called 'Zabbaleen', told Fides: "The buses have been on strike for days. Yesterday there was an attack on a driver who wanted to work. People are being inconvenienced because public transport is the most economic way of moving about and travelling to work".

Fr Verdoscia said that the Military High Council, which has been governing the country since Mubarak resigned, issued a statement in which it calls the people not to demonstrate, "because it is not the right moment, given that the Government is busy rewriting the Constitution."

He said: "This proposition has caused debate on many issues. For example, article 2 of the current Constitution which states that Egypt is an Islamic country and no State law may be contrary to Islamic law is under discussion. Several Muslim voices have been suggested laying claim to the laicism of the State and the heritage of all citizens (Muslims and other faiths) before the law. These people are calling for the revision of article 2 of the Constitution. Naturally there are others who do not wish to change this law."

Fr Luciano said: "everything is still open to discussion, because there are many issues. There are certainly signs of hope, especially because of how the revolution transpired. But we must see what 'souls' will come out of the opposition. In recent days, the protesters who were in the square claimed: for now we are united because our goal is to change the system, that is, to remove Mubarak. Then we will start to think about the future of Egypt. So new political groups will emerge to contest the upcoming elections. Of course we hope everything will be for the better," concluded the missionary.

Source: Fides