Although, thanks to their religion, the Copts have a certain affinity with
the Western world, they participated in leading the fight against the British
colonial power at the beginning of the twentieth century. At that time they
were proportionally over-represented in the El-Wafd Party, which laid the
foundations of the parliamentary system in Egypt. During the Nasser era,
beginning in 1952, they were, however, systematically removed from the
political scene. The appointment of a few Coptic members of parliament
and one or two ministers, usually in insignificant ministries, by the President
of the state serves merely as a sop to show that there is no discrimination.
This also applies in the case of the candidateship of Botros Ghali for the
post of UN Secretary-General in the 1990s, when the government actively
made use of international recognition of his expertise in order to promote
an Egyptian candidate.