Mohammed Morsi, Egypts recently elected President who was backed by the Muslim Brotherhood following the overthrow Hosni Mubarak, has fallen out of favor with some in his country after some questionable governmental actions.
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy has issued an order preventing any court from overturning his decisions, essentially allowing him to run the country unchecked until a new constitution is drafted, his spokesman announced on state TV Thursday.
Morsy also ordered retrials and reinvestigations in the deaths of protesters during last year’s uprising against strongman Hosni Mubarak. That could lead to the reprosecution of Mubarak, currently serving a life prison term, and several acquitted officials who served under him.
The order for retrials could please some Egyptians who’ve expressed disappointment that security officers and others have escaped legal consequences over last year’s protester crackdown by the Mubarak regime.
Some demonstrators in Cairo, however — protesting for a fourth day against Morsy and the growing influence of the Muslim Brotherhood — expressed anger over his assumption of more power. About 2,000 people protested Thursday night in and around Tahrir Square, with some chanting “birth of a new pharaoh” and “Morsy the dictator.”
Political rivals also expressed dismay Thursday evening.
“Morsy is taking over the executive, judicial, and legislative powers in his hands, and this is a dangerous path,” said the Twitter account of Hamdeen Sabahy, a former presidential candidate.
“Morsy has issued immunity to any laws he issues. This is the birth of a new dictator,” tweeted Khaled Ali, another former presidential candidate.
This may be just the beginning of a renewed round of civil unrest within Egypt.
More demonstrations are scheduled in Tahrir Square on Friday.
Fekri Mahkroub, a criminal court judge in Egypt’s Ismailia district, said Thursday night that he was “sad because what President Morsy did is an assault on the legislative and judicial system.”
“He defies anything the revolution stands for, and his actions are an insult to us as judges,” Mahkroub said. “Declaring that his laws cannot be questioned is unacceptable, and we may see a general judicial strike.”
Eric Trager, a fellow with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Morsy not only is preventing the judiciary from overruling his decisions, but he also has “insulated the Muslim-Brotherhood-dominated (constitutional panel) from judicial oversight.”
Depsite the protests in Cairo and objections from political rivals, Morsy — elected with nearly 52% of the vote in a June runoff against former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik — enjoys the “best mobilizing capability in the country” in the Muslim Brotherhood, Trager said.
“If there’s a nationwide movement against this, you’ll (also) have a nationwide movement for it,” Trager said.
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Comments
I am a lot more exercised over the same sorts of things being done by Obama here in America.
And he IS doing them, with his Collectivist buds in the legislative branch and in the regulatory agencies.
After praising Morsi for his role in creating a “cease fire” after supporting the Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli civilians [that included, surprisingly enough some attacks by 107 mm military rockets identical to those used by the Egyptian military fired from Egyptian soil], Obama had us help guarantee $20 Billion in “loans” to Egypt via the IMF.
Now Morsi declares himself to be a dictator above the law. What do you want to bet that Burak Hussein is not taking notes about the process, being always willing to learn about new ways of getting around the Constitution?
Subotai Bahadur
We have entered the era of the democratically elected dictator for life.
John Bolton warned of Egypt becoming one man, one vote, one time. Morsi is who our brilliant State Department and President chose to align with for a Hamas truce and the Arab Spring.
Well, be it remembered we have our very own Muslim Brotherhoodlem(tm) in the State Dept.
Huma Weiner.
Good point. But we aren’t suppose to speak of such things according to the Republican leadership ( Wish there was an emoticon that showed me throwing up at the thought ).
But at least Bill Kristol is optimistic about Egypt !!
Obama: “I want what Morsi has”.
Meet the new Pharaoh, same as the old Pharaoh!
Democracy is not the goal. It cannot be the goal. Democracy is not inherently noble and does not necessarily engender positive progress. At its worst, it is a means for a majority to prosecute involuntary exploitation and restrict liberty of their family, friends, and neighbors. At its worst, it is a means to coerce acceptance of elective abortion of developing human life. At its worst, it sponsors corruption of individuals, institutions, and society.
The goal must be to preserve individual dignity and recognize an intrinsic value of human life. The goal must be to identify a mutually reconcilable position between the natural and enlightened (i.e. conscious) orders. The goal must be evolutionary fitness, because human life is both valuable and dignified. The goal must be to elevate the human condition, while recognizing the inviolable constraints imposed by reality.
The goal is not democracy.
This just in from susan “LIAR” rice: “It’s the video’s fault.”
I’m loving all the nuance being given to this–even in this headline-
Let me clue everyone in:
“What I say goes, and is beyond reproach”….
is a dictator
Morsi is Muslim Brotherhood. Sooooooooo, lemme see if I got the gist of what’s happenin’…ALL this shutting down the power of the army and de-bollocking any opposition and running the Coptic Christians out of Egypt and consolidating power in the iron fist of Pharaoh Morsi are, WHAT, a Big Surprise to the O’Bammo Administration??
Sorry, but the Infantile Majesty would much prefer bowing to Morsi than paying respect to Bibi Netanyahu. You’re virtually on-your-own, Israel. President Bush was the Strongest friend and ally you’ve ever had and his tepid, weak, clueless, leftist successor is the Weakest.