Opponents and supporters of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi have clashed as Egypt’s demonstrators once again take to the street. This latest wave of rallies and public outcry came from a highly controversial decree issued by Morsi that gave him greater power within the new Egyptian government and essentially forbade other members of the government to challenge his actions. This has not only ignited renewed protests across Egypt but aroused great concern from the international community. “The decisions and declarations announced on November 22 raise concerns for many Egyptians and for the international community,” State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, said yesterday.
“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. The current constitutional vacuum in Egypt can only be resolved by the adoption of a constitution that includes checks and balances and respects fundamental freedoms, individual rights and the rule of law consistent with Egypt’s international commitments.”
Morsi has defended his actions by essentially stating that drastic problems call for drastic measures. “I don’t like, want or need to resort to exceptional measures, but I will if I see that my people, nation and the revolution of Egypt are in danger,” Morsi told thousands of his supporters outside the presidential palace. He insists this decree is necessary to protect Egypt’s new institutions from those acting in the interests of the former Mubarak regime and weed out corruption. Basically he is trying to protect himself and the country’s constitutional assembly from rulings by the country’s judiciary system, which many still see as pro-Mubarak. He has stated that once a fully functioning constitutional democracy was in place he would relinquish the powers he has given himself.
“There was a disease but this is not the remedy,” said Hassan Nafaa, a political science professor at Cairo University, “We are going towards more polarization between the Islamist front on one hand and all the others on the other. This is a dangerous situation.”
