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EGYPT’S PRESIDENT MOHAMED Morsi vowed he would not quit despite mass protests demanding his resignation and an army ultimatum as fresh deadly violence rocked capital Cairo.
In a televised address on Tuesday evening, the embattled Islamist leader said he had been freely elected to lead the troubled nation little more than a year ago and intended to stick to his task.
The only alternative to respecting the constitutional legitimacy of the office was further bloodshed on the streets, he warned.
Just hours after his speech, the health ministry reported that unidentified gunman had killed 16 people and wounded about 200 more after opening fire on a rally of his supporters in Cairo.
Morsi’s speech came as the clock ticked down to a Wednesday deadline set by the army for the president to meet the “people’s demands” or have a solution imposed on him.
Women hold the Egyptian national flag as they stand in front of graffiti depicting Islamist President Mohammed Morsi outside the presidential palace, in Cairo, Egypt. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
While he made no direct reference to the ultimatum in his speech, a message posted on his official Twitter account called on the army to back off.
“President Morsi insists on (his) constitutional legitimacy and rejects any attempt to overstep it,” the message said.
“(He) calls on the armed forces to withdraw their warning and rejects any dictates, domestic or foreign.”
After Morsi’s speech, the opposition Tamarod movement, which on Sunday mobilised millions of demonstrators for what the military described as the biggest protests in Egyptian history, accused Morsi of “threatening his own people”.
Morsi and army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi were locked in talks on Tuesday to “discuss the current crisis,” a military source said.
The army’s ultimatum Monday drew a rapturous welcome from opponents of the president but his supporters accused the generals of preparing a return to the unpopular military rule of the months between the overthrow of former president Hosni Mubarak and Morsi’s swearing-in last year.
Government daily Al-Ahram, in its online edition, reported details of the demands set out by the army.
The army told Morsi to step down if he could not come up with a plan that would satisfy the masses calling for him to go, or face being removed, it reported.
(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
The plan provided for an interim administration of up to a year to replace him, which would include the head of the supreme constitutional court and a senior army figure, the paper reported.
The constitution, controversially approved by Morsi’s Islamist allies last December, would be suspended for up to a year while a new one was drawn up.
There would be presidential and legislative elections under terms set by the new constitution, which itself would be put to a referendum.
Once again, he accused supporters of the ousted Mubarak of trying to sow chaos and incite violence.
The president renewed his appeal to the opposition to join a dialogue, an appeal already repeatedly rejected as a sham.
As political uncertainty grew Tuesday, Morsi was hit with a spate of resignations, including that of his foreign minister Mohammed Kamel Amr.
Presidential spokesman Ehab Fahmy and cabinet spokesman Alaa al-Hadidi also resigned, officials and the media reported.
US President Barack Obama, whose government is a major military aid donor to Egypt, called Morsi to warn him that the voices of all Egyptians must be heard, a White House official said.
- AFP, 2013
Yeah right Obama maybe go listen to all the voices of America then
When you say “listen to all the voices of America” then that must include people who think his foreign policy is too weak and those who think that it is too heavy-handed.
It must also include those who think that Obama-care is too invasive and those who think that it doesn’t go far enough.
All the people who think guns should be banned and all those who think that they should not.
Lets not forget those who think that the war on drugs is pointless and then the people who believe that to legalize drugs would only be a bigger problem.
So now that he has listened to these people as well as people with many other concerns, what do you expect him to do? He is the president of the United States, not emperor of the United States.
That’s kind of what I meant
Seems to me he has been listening to the people, maybe a little to closely with the help of the NSA :P
It’s a tough one to call from the US meddling point of view.
We know Morsi was democratically elected however this is a misnomer. It was an election where millions upon millions abstained from voting in protest at how the elections were being organised. This never troubled the meddling, imperialist US as the Muslim Brotherhood was directly financed by the CIA for years and it was a good result for them. Another country tucked under their belt.
We know the Egyptian military is seriously comprised. John Kerry only recently quietly authorised another $1.5 billion in aid for Egypt army.
One can only hope there are true radicals among the military with power who will respect the concept of democracy and allow free elections with no meddling.
Its infuriating that he was democratically elected, but people are treating it as if he just took over. The people protesting need to give him more time
Not sure exactly what’s going on there but I suspect he feels that his democratic victory has given him absolute power and free licence to do as he pleases regardless of the views of those who voted against him.
A true democracy will always involve compromise in some shape or form – to use the example of another commenter on here, two wolves and a chicken voting on what to have for dinner is democratic, but it doesn’t make it right or fair!
That is true, and I will admit that he has not been all too encompassing. However, going out and burning down his parties embassies is not the way to go about this, nor is murdering his supporters. The best solution would be that early elections are called, if democracy is to really prevail.
Completely agree with you – popular peaceful protest is one thing, thuggish behaviour is a different thing altogether.
have your say