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PRESIDENT MOHAMED MORSI insisted today that Egypt is on the path to “freedom and democracy” after granting himself sweeping powers, which sparked clashes between his supporters and foes and raised concerns abroad.
Hhe told a gathering of fellow Islamists outside the presidential palace:
Political stability, social stability and economic stability are what I want and that is what I am working for.
Morsi opponents began a one-week sit-in in Tahrir Square – the symbolic heart of protests that toppled Hosni Mubarak last year – and called for a mass protest on Tuesday.
Clashes erupted between police and protesters near the square, with demonstrators setting fire to a police truck, witnesses said. And violent confrontations erupted between Morsi supporters and foes in the canal city of Suez and the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, where protesters ransacked the offices of the Muslim Brotherhood, from which the president was elected in June.
Under a declaration read out on television on Thursday, the president:
can issue any decision or measure to protect the revolution… The constitutional declarations, decisions and laws issued by the president are final and not subject to appeal.
The move is a blow to the pro-democracy movement that ousted Mubarak, and sparked fears that Islamists will be further ensconced in power.
It also raised international concerns, with the United States calling for calm and urging all parties to work together. “The decisions and declarations announced on November 22 raise concerns for many Egyptians and for the international community,” said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.
One of the aspirations of the revolution was to ensure that power would not be overly concentrated in the hands of any one person or institution.
In Brussels, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said “it is of utmost importance that the democratic process be completed in accordance with the commitments undertaken by the Egyptian leadership.”
Rights watchdog Amnesty International slammed Morsi’s new powers, which “trample the rule of law and herald a new era of repression.”
Morsi’s backers, led by the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, gathered outside the presidential palace in northern Cairo in a show of support for the president’s move. “The people support the president’s decisions,” the crowd chanted.
On Thursday, Morsi undercut a hostile judiciary and stripped judges of the right to rule on the case or to challenge his decrees. The decision effectively places the president above judicial oversight until a new constitution is ratified.
Tahrir Square
Morsi’s opponents poured into Tahrir Square after the main weekly Muslim prayers, joined by leading secular politicians Mohamed ElBaradei, a former UN nuclear watchdog chief, and Amr Mussa, a ex-foreign minister and Arab League chief.
Morsi also sacked prosecutor general Abdel Meguid Mahmud, whom he failed to oust last month, amid strong misgivings among the president’s supporters about the failure to secure convictions of more members of the old regime.
The new prosecutor will open new investigations into the acquitted officials.
Some 850 protesters were killed in clashes with security forces or Mubarak loyalists during last year’s uprising.
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Hope it’s nothing trivial
Reading all the wishes of ill-health of death by the bitter little people who read The Journal reminds me why I could never be a Leftist like them. Their hearts are dark with no room for charity or kindness.
@Brian Lenehan: you’re a tonic… Do you always come up with these one liner, ops two sentence, comical jestures so fast?
@Brian Lenehan: on a serious note, with all the ill health and pain he has forced on his own people and on the people of this earth, I think a twisted gut is the minimum this guy should be inflicted with. Let’s hope the cure is worse than the disease on this occasion. karma can be beautiful but can also have a weird sense of humour.
@Brian Lenehan: Those comments are humourous in intent. Considering his dangerous impact on the environment, ‘truth’, democracy, the rule of law and accountability, etc. it is difficult to empathise with him. You would have done better service to your argument if you hadn’t resorted to giving away your own agenda and limited perspective.
@David A. Murray: its about time the left started to express themselves directly in no uncertain terms just as the right do. this character shows f all respect for humanity. so, f all respect should be shown to him.
@Brian Lenehan: take up a new hobby this year- staying conversant with current affairs
@Brian Lenehan: this man has openly killed 1000s of people with his words and lack of action. He has openly threatened to imprison those he deems a threat to his rule. He’s a little strongman who rules with a fist. So anyone that disagrees with you is automatically a leftist? He has recently said those asking for his impeachment will be punished by his followers by executions. He has clamped down on the free press, freedom of speech, censorship, jailed those who disagree with him etc. And apparently he said something about a girl before he got elected saying that she was to ugly to get raped? He despises Democracy. he is a autocratic President playing the putin card. People like him don’t last long. So yeah I can understand peoples feelings.
@Brian Lenehan: you don’t have to be a specific side of the political spectrum to know that Bolsonaro and many others like him are devoid of any redeeming characteristics. People from the left and right used to think like this before the mid 2010′s when large swathes of each felt they had to blindly support the politicians they felt an affinity with as blindly as they would support their soccer team, regardless of their words, actions, or the consequences of both.
@Brian Lenehan: The absolute state of that comment
@alan scott: I am a fierce critic of Bolsonaro. He is a disgrace. But half of the things you mentioned are not true or complete exaggeration.
@CaicoNaFita: nothing about Bolsonaro is exaggerated.. He’s a scut and more.
@CaicoNaFita: il try and find the links and post them.
@Brian Lenehan: why are you guys always able to dish it out but not take it? Hahahaha
@Brian Lenehan:
Der Fürher loved dogs and was vegetarian. He was still however a b0//0x (1st Class with Oak Leaves). Whaddya gonna do…?
He’s been full of it and hot air for years…… I’m surprised its taken this long
@Aidan Leonard: its not so much hot air he is full of at the moment….
Fingers crossed.
A tool passing a stool
That will be the bile and hatred, i expect.
Wouldn’t be terrible if he caught covid whilst in hospital.
@Gerry Gleeson: if you are after a fresh bout of Covid, there is no better place to pick it up than a hospital
Classic case of head up ones own but..
Did somebody shove his policies up his hole?
I think his blocked.
@Ciarán O’Fearghail: Brain is blocked
@Ciarán O’Fearghail: you’re some rick with a large P.
He really is that full of absolute…..
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