A Coptic Christian woman has been chosen to lead a political party in Egypt for the first time.

Hala Shukrallah, 59, was elected to take over from Mohamed El Baradei (former head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog) as head of the Dostour (‘Constitution’) Party on Feb. 21.

A number of Egyptian politicians took to social media to celebrate the “historic” step, but Shukrallah said she hoped the media frenzy surrounding her appointment would not detract from her work.

Sources: MCN, Fides