Would Egypt's New President Enforce Equal Rights and Full Integration for All Minorities?

Based on several recent media reports, Egypt's newly elected president Mohamed Morsi has vowed to be a "leader for all Egyptians" and vowed "to protect citizens' rights"

According to the Guardian's 25 June 2012 report from the Associated Press, the following was stated:

The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi proclaimed himself a leader "for all Egyptians", after being declared the winner of Egypt's first free presidential election on Sunday. 

Speaking on Egyptian television late on Sunday evening, Morsi vowed to "protect the rights of women and children", as well as Christians and Muslims alike. 

"I tell everybody in this memorable day that because of your choice, your will and after God's favour, I am a president for all Egyptians," the 60-year-old engineer and professor said in his speech. 

Morsi sought to reach out to the activists by paying tribute to the nearly 900 protesters killed in the uprising. "I wouldn't have been here between your hands as the first elected president without … the blood, the tears and sacrifices of the martyrs," he said. 

The president-elect declared he had a "message of peace" and that he would respect all international agreements. He did not mention Israel but the remark seemed to be a reassuring indication that he would respect the peace treaty with the country.

One of Egypt's small religious minorities, the Baha'is, remain without their citizenship rights. They are poorly treated by the authorities. They are discriminated against in education and employment, and to this day, many of them remain without identity documents as described earlier in this blog.

Thus, if President Morsi is committed indeed to social justice, equality and the protection of "citizens' rights," as "a president for all Egyptians," only his actions would confirm his words and his proclamations, and there are plentiful opportunities for him to fulfill his promises. It is time for all Egyptian minorities to be fully integrated into their society and to receive their overdue full citizenship rights. They have honorably served their homeland and their fellow citizens for so long, and in return they received nothing but ridicule and repression.