Egypt's Morsi Prepares Martial Law and "Cancels" Decree Giving Himself "Sweeping Powers" in the Same Day
December 9, 2012 • 8:46AM
After
days of anti-Muslim Brotherhood protests and rioting, where several
offices of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo and Alexandria were burned,
Egyptian and Western media were reporting that President Mohammed
Morsi's government had prepared an order for martial law.
In the midst of the ongoing chaos and violence of the last 2-3 weeks, the Egyptian Army, which had played the decisive role in the Arab Spring demonstrations in February 2010, stepped in. On Saturday, December 8, a statement from an unnamed military spokesman was reported on Egyptian state television. The statement warned MB President Mohammed Morsi that dialogue with the opposition is the "best and only" way to overcome the conflict. ""The path of dialogue is the best and only way to reach agreement and achieve the interests of the nation and its citizens.... Anything other than (dialogue) will force us into a dark tunnel with disastrous consequences, something which we won't allow," the statement said, according to Associated Press.
Some form of meeting between the Morsi government and the opposition — boycotted by many opposition leaders like Amr Mousa and Mohamed ElBaradei — did take place on Saturday.
Then by 7 PM EST, it was reported that Morsi had "cancelled" the decree of three weeks ago in which he gave himself total power — abolishing the independent judiciary in addition to the earlier steps he had taken against the Parliament and military.
Hundreds of articles appeared reporting on aspects of the cancellation of the order — many of them quoting opposition members who said that the annulment of the order doesn't matter any more because Morsi "got what he wanted" — i.e., the setting of a referendum to ratify the new Egyptian Constitution. As of 8 PM EST, it was being reported that the referendum would be held as December 15th as Morsi decreed last week.
There were still many thousands of anti-Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators out on the streets of Cairo late Saturday night.
In the midst of the ongoing chaos and violence of the last 2-3 weeks, the Egyptian Army, which had played the decisive role in the Arab Spring demonstrations in February 2010, stepped in. On Saturday, December 8, a statement from an unnamed military spokesman was reported on Egyptian state television. The statement warned MB President Mohammed Morsi that dialogue with the opposition is the "best and only" way to overcome the conflict. ""The path of dialogue is the best and only way to reach agreement and achieve the interests of the nation and its citizens.... Anything other than (dialogue) will force us into a dark tunnel with disastrous consequences, something which we won't allow," the statement said, according to Associated Press.
Some form of meeting between the Morsi government and the opposition — boycotted by many opposition leaders like Amr Mousa and Mohamed ElBaradei — did take place on Saturday.
Then by 7 PM EST, it was reported that Morsi had "cancelled" the decree of three weeks ago in which he gave himself total power — abolishing the independent judiciary in addition to the earlier steps he had taken against the Parliament and military.
Hundreds of articles appeared reporting on aspects of the cancellation of the order — many of them quoting opposition members who said that the annulment of the order doesn't matter any more because Morsi "got what he wanted" — i.e., the setting of a referendum to ratify the new Egyptian Constitution. As of 8 PM EST, it was being reported that the referendum would be held as December 15th as Morsi decreed last week.
There were still many thousands of anti-Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators out on the streets of Cairo late Saturday night.
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