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EGYPT’S PRESIDENT MOHAMED Morsi has rejected an army ultimatum threatening to intervene if the Islamist leader did not meet the demands of the people, raising the stakes in the country’s political crisis.
The army statement, read out on television yesterday, had given Morsi 48 hours to comply with its call.
“If the demands of the people are not met in this period… (the armed forces) will announce a future roadmap and measures to oversee its implementation,” it said.
But in a statement issued overnight, the presidency insisted it would continue on its own path towards national reconciliation. The army declaration had not been cleared by the presidency and could cause confusion, it said.
Egyptian protesters ransack the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in the Muqatam district in Cairo yesterday. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
The presidency also denounced any declaration that would “deepen division” and “threaten the social peace”.
Morsi was consulting “with all national forces to secure the path of democratic change and the protection of the popular will”, it added.
“The civil democratic Egyptian state is one of the most important achievements of the 25 January revolution,” said the presidency, referring to the 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak.
Egypt will absolutely not permit any step backward whatever the circumstances.
The army’s statement came just a day after millions of protesters took to the streets across Egypt Sunday, calling for Morsi to step down. It received a rapturous welcome from Morsi’s opponents, still camped out in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
Tamarod, the grassroots campaign behind Sunday’s massive protests against Morsi, also hailed the statement by the armed forces which it said had “sided with the people”.
It “will mean early presidential elections”, Tamarod’s spokesman Mahmud Badr told reporters.
Opponents of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi waves Egyptian national flags during a protest outside the presidential palace, in Cairo. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Tens of thousands of jubilant protesters poured into the streets of Cairo, Alexandria and other large cities after the statement was broadcast. Raucous cheers rang out across main squares.
In Tahrir, protesters voiced their support for army chief and Defence Minister General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, chanting: “Come down Sisi, Morsi is not my president.”
The army, which led a tumultuous transition after the 2011 revolt that ousted Mubarak, had given all parties one week to reconcile their differences.
“This week, there has been no sign of gestures or acts,” the army statement said. “Wasting more time will lead only to more division… which we have warned and continue to warn against.”
Egypt has been deeply divided between Morsi’s Islamist supporters and a broad-based opposition.
Ministers resigning
The huge turnout for Sunday’s protests, which the military put at millions nationwide, handed the initiative to the opposition Tamarod movement.
Tamarod had issued its own ultimatum, giving Morsi until 3pm (Irish time) on Tuesday to quit or face an open-ended campaign of civil disobedience.
But the army statement significantly increased the stakes.
Sixteen people died in protests on Sunday, including eight in clashes between supporters and opponents of the president outside the Cairo headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, to which Morsi belongs, the health ministry said.
Early on Monday, protesters set the Brotherhood’s headquarters ablaze before looting it.
“This is a historic moment. The Brotherhood ruined the country, so stealing from them is justified,” one man said.
A senior government official told AFP that four ministers – tourism, environment, communication and legal affairs – had tendered their resignations to Prime Minister Hisham Qandil. This morning, reports suggest that the Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr has also stepped aside.
Supporters of Egypt’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi attend a rally in Nasser City, in Cairo. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Tamarod – Arabic for rebellion – is a grassroots campaign which says it has collected more than 22 million signatures to a petition demanding new elections.
On Sunday, opposition leader Hamdeen Sabbahi urged military intervention if Morsi refused to quit, stressing however that the best outcome would be for him to step down of his own accord.
Morsi’s opponents accuse him of having betrayed the revolution by concentrating power in Islamist hands and of sending the economy into freefall.
His supporters say he inherited many problems from a corrupt regime, and that he should be allowed to complete his term, which ends in 2016.
But the counter-demonstrations they organised in the run-up to Sunday’s protests failed to draw the numbers that the opposition brought out onto the streets.
US President Barack Obama, whose government is a major military aid donor to Egypt, called on Morsi’s government to reach out to the opposition.
“What is clear right now is that although Mr Morsi was elected democratically, there is more work to be done to create the conditions in which everybody feels their voices are heard,” he said.
State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell stressed: “We don’t take sides, we don’t have a particular party or group or interest that we’re backing.”
The United Nations warned that what happened in Egypt would have a bearing on other that toppled authoritarian governments during and after the 2011 Arab Spring.
“What Egypt does with its transition will have a significant impact on other transition countries in the region,” said UN deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey.
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Coup on the way then.
Hopefully a bloodless one if it goes ahead, but its not looking good.
Basically this a a battle between the Islamists ( Muslim Bortherhood) and other muslims, christians and other religions who want the secular nature of Egypt to remain. The army are still very independent so it’s very possible they might depose Morsi if they think he is creating a major division in the country. After loosing Mubarak the last thing the country needs now is to start to become divided down religious lines. Just look at Syria.
Too true Rob, the Brotherhood has them bamboozled into thinking that they were getting democracy [ which is not an Islamic must-have]. Its not just Egypt that is being subjugated “”We are not convinced of elections for the establishment of an Islamic state; we are convinced of jihad. Our first step is to prepare our sons and daughters for jihad. Allah willing, the day the Islamic government is established, education, development, etc., would be carried forward,” says Mufti Abuzar Azaam.[Pakistan]
If you reject your people backed army demands
You’re going to have a bad time
If I were nations President and a few million people protested to have me out then I would do what the obvious and democratic thing to do is….. Leave! The bloody arrogance of some individuals who are supposed to be Leaders but are nothing of the sort. Get Out! you arrogant pup before your people are hurt and your country torn apart!
What they should do is pick a random person from the crowd and go “OK, you run the country.”
Fukk em , I can’t see them from the back of my house ,
Not what I was driving at at all.
Can someone who knows more about this than I do please explain: they demonstrated for democracy, they got it, now a short time later they’re on the streets again and it looks like they could end up with a coup and back to dictatorship. I’m all for people power, god knows we could do with some here, but this seems crazy to me, am I wrong?
They don’t feel that the leader they got is doing anything worthwhile and don’t want another 3 years of waiting to see if he does anything.
Some people might suggest that a year isn’t long enough to undo 30 years of Mubarak’s rule, but people want everything yesterday and don’t want to wait.
Ok so it’s a case of ‘be careful what you wish for’, scary, I feel for them, hope it doesn’t end in a bloodbath.
Did they just demonstrate for democracy (i.e. representative democracy)? Or did they demonstrate for democracy because they thought that democracy would give them a better life? What do you think happened when they got democracy and nothing much changed? We have democracy but you could hardly say that the will of the people is being done.
Democracy is all well amd good so long as the right people get into power.
They want a secular democracy. The Muslim Brotherhood basicly bought the election. They knew that they had little support in the larger cities so they went into the countryside and gave money to the poor uneducated peasants. They also built Mosques and religious schools in the villages. Rural Egypt is what Ireland was like 60 years ago. Conservative and devoutly religious. And when the local Imams told them what party to vote for they they did. Just like here 60 years ago very few would have questioned the local parish priest.
Explains it all Mick, thanks.
The Muslim Brotherhood did not buy the election. They were the biggest party in opposition for years, so it is fairly likely that they were always going to be the first party elected during the revolution. The Brotherhood has a base among the working class and the poor as well as the middle class. I’m sure they voted for the Brotherhood because they wanted to, not because they were told to, but the Brotherhood broke their election promises, in terms of an improved standard of living.
Dave.In the months before the Election were they not spending money like it was going out of fashion in the rural hinterlands? Was there not a sudden rise in the number of Mosques and schools built it rural communities? Did they not give “Donations” to peasant farmers and fishermen? Did the Local Imams not throw their weight behind the Muslim Brotherhood?
Tell us Mick, where did you get this info from? just wondering?
There was a documentary done about the resurgence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt after Mubarak.
What’s the name of it I’d like to see it
It was on Ch 4 last year if I remember correctly.
Yeah, please post the name of this documentary Mick, or a link, I’d love to see it too ;-)
There’s a storm coming Mr Morsi….
The only positive is that Morsi has not sanctioned the army to go out and kill. What bugs me is that there was a fair election with no complaints from supervising bodies. I just hope that there is a peaceful results because this could have repercussions for Libya, Tunisia etc.
It’s good to see the Egyptians trying to boost their tourist industry by creating some more ruins.
have your say