CAIRO - Growing calls for legislation to consolidate the national front in the face of externally manufactured attempts to undermine the nation's stability and security remind one of an appeal made by late president Anwar Sadat, shortly before the October War in 1973. Sadat stressed that the relationship between Egypt's Muslims and Copts must be as strong as possible, so as not to have a negative impact on the war. He therefore urged his Government to draw up a bill to 'protect national unity'. According to his contemporaries, the late president was determined that an impregnable internal front was vital to win the war to liberate Sinai from the Israeli occupation. Excerpts of a parliamentary debate about Sadat's proposed bill disclose that the late president told MPs at the time that he wanted the national front to be protected by a thick carapace. He was outraged when Washington cast doubt on the strength of the relationship between Egypt's Muslims and Copts. Sadat submitted his proposals to Parliament's Legislative Committee under the chairmanship of the late Gamal el-Owtefi on July 22, 1972. El-Owtefi's committee concluded its task after four days of elaborate discussions, to guarantee that the bill would not impinge on human rights and freedom of expression. In introducing his bill, which was passed during an extraordinary session of the Egyptian Parliament on August 15, el-Owtefi blasted as treacherous attempts to destabilise or threaten national unity. “Likewise, attempts to weaken the nation's military capabilities are acts of treason,” he added. Article One of the 10-article bill states that safeguarding national unity is the responsibility of every citizen, as well as official institutions and civil organisations. The same article stresses that all citizens have equal rights and duties and that freedom of expression is guaranteed, as long as it “is performed honestly, without attempting to provoke other people”. However, Sadat's bill did not hold firm in the face of the renewal of clashes between Copts and Muslims in 1979 and 1980. The late president had to appeal again to Parliament in September 1981, a month before he was assassinated, to contain the explosive situation. The then Speaker of the People's Assembly, Sufi Abu Taleb, described Sadat's suggestion as “the third revolution to bring democracy in Egypt back on track”. Calls for realising Sadat's vision have been made again after the brutal attack on the Qiddissein (Two Saints) Church in Alexandria, in which 23 people were killed and scores more injured, both Christians and Muslims. The Head of the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar (the highest Muslim institution in Egypt) have both condemned the attack as a treacherous attempt planned overseas to foment sectarian sedition here. President Hosni Mubarak also gave a national speech, in which he pledged that his Government would not allow anti-Egyptian elements to achieve their malicious ends. Mubarak also pledged that his Government will not limit its war on terror in Egypt to the perpetrators, stressing that the Government will hunt for the masterminds, whether at home or abroad. The Government's determination to slam the door in the face of external conspiracies has been cautiously welcomed by political activists and politicians, but they told Al-Wafd opposition newspaper that they are afraid that the Government's enthusiasm might soon abate – only to be re-ignited by another tragic incident.
