Egypt: Controversy in parliament over removal of religion from ID cards
Published: 1/Aug/2016
Source: Egypt Independent
Opinion in parliament has split over a Citizenship bill presented by MP Alaa Abdel Moneim containing an article abolishing the listing of citizens’ religion on national ID cards, to be discussed next Saturday.
Parliamentary sources said that Ossama al-Abd, former head of Al-Azhar University and current Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Religious Affairs Committee, told a number of MPs he would reject the bill in objection to that particular article.
Salafi-oriented Nour Party MPs also rejected the bill, saying it would be a move towards a secular state and infringe on the vision of a state run on the principles of Islamic Sharia law.
Chairman Abd reiterated resistance to the controversial article, arguing that it could lead to complications and mix-ups, such as the burial of Muslims in Christians’ burial grounds and vice versa.
Read further on Egypt Independent website.