Egypt's military gives Morsy ultimatum

[FaxModem1]

CNN

Egypt's military gives Morsy ultimatum
From Salma Abdelaziz. Reza Sayah and Ben Wedeman CNN
updated 8:03 PM EDT, Mon July 1, 2013
Source: CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: An Egyptian military spokesman says there's no coup
NEW: "Everyone is talking as if Morsy is officially out of power," one protester says
NEW: "Incompetent" Morsy is "his own worst enemy," analyst says
NEW: Opposition has an "anti-democratic" bent, observer tells CNN

Are you in Egypt? Send us your experiences, but please stay safe.

Cairo (CNN) -- Just don't call it a coup.

Appearing to throw its weight behind an opposition that swarmed Cairo's Tahrir Square, the Egyptian military told the country's civilian government it has until Wednesday evening to "meet the demands of the people" or it will step in to restore order. In a statement carried nationwide on radio and television, the military called the 48-hour ultimatum "a final chance to shoulder the burden of a historic moment in our country."

But a military spokesman said late Monday that the culture of the armed forces -- which dominated the country for decades -- "doesn't allow it to adopt the policy of military coups." The statement was meant to push all factions toward quick solutions and a national consensus, and the armed forces aren't looking to be part of the political or ruling circles, the spokesman, Col. Ahmed Ali, said in written statement.

While insisting they want no direct role in national politics, the generals appeared instead to be pressuring Mohamed Morsy, Egypt's first freely elected president, to restructure his government. The steps could include reducing the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in his cabinet and calling early presidential and parliamentary elections, a source close to highly placed members of Egypt's leadership told CNN.

The protesters in Tahrir Square, who listened to the military statement on radios and cell phones, cheered as it was read. They roared as military helicopters passed overhead at dusk, trailing Egyptian flags and the banners of the armed services. After nightfall, they waved flags, honked horns and set off fireworks.

"Everyone is talking as if Morsy is officially out of power and the Brotherhood is officially out of power, and everyone is celebrating," Bassem Sabry, an Egyptian writer who took part in Monday's protests, told CNN's Connect the World.

Morsy, a U.S.-educated Islamist, was elected Egypt's president in June 2012. He resigned his post as leader of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, after winning office, but critics say he has become increasingly authoritarian over his year in power.

And he has failed to revive Egypt's economy, which crashed when the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak drove tourists away. That's disaffected many of his supporters among Egypt's poor and middle classes, said Fawaz Gerges, director of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics.

"That some of the revolutionaries are calling on the army to return to politics is a testament to how polarized Egypt is a year after the election of Morsy," Gerges said. "Think of the millions of people who cheered Morsy after his election. Think of the millions of Egyptians who pinned their hopes on Morsy. A year later, now, the millions of Egyptians who cheered for Morsy are saying he must go."

Gerges called Morsy "incompetent" and "a president who is basically his own worst enemy." But he doubted the military would actually step in to depose him, which he said "would plunge Egypt into a greater legal political and institutional crisis."
Photos: Protests in Egypt Photos: Protests in Egypt
Egyptian protesters want Morsy out
Crowds reach leader's palace in Egypt
Anti-Morsy protests heat up in Egypt

Shortly after the military's announcement, Morsy met with Prime Minister Hisham Qandil and Egypt's minister of defense and head of the country's military, Gen. Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi, according to the president's Facebook page. It was not immediately known what they discussed, and a late-night news conference planned by the president's office was canceled.

The source who discussed the issue with CNN said the military is asking Morsy's government to reduce the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and focus on a governing style credible to the majority. Gerges said those changes could include the appointment of an opposition figure as prime minister, the appointment of a new prosecutor-general and opposition-backed amendments to the country's constitution, which voters approved in December.

The Muslim Brotherhood was repressed under Mubarak but is now the most powerful political force in Egypt. Last week, El-Sisi said the army would, if necessary, "prevent Egypt from slipping into a dark tunnel of civil unrest and killing, sectarianism and the collapse of state institutions."

The opposition Tamarod ("rebel") Campaign called for nationwide protests, civil disobedience and a march on the presidential palace if Morsy doesn't leave office by Tuesday. Demonstrators say they have collected 17 million signatures -- roughly 4 million more than the number of votes that won Morsy the presidency -- calling for Morsy to go.

The opposition is made up of various groups and loose coalitions, and not all anti-Morsy protesters agree with the road map the Tamarod campaign is advocating. Some are loyal to the ousted Mubarak government, while others want the army to intervene.

That's brought criticism from observers like Mohamad Elmasry, a journalism professor at the American University in Cairo, who says much of the movement is anti-democratic and elitist.

"The Muslim Brotherhood has made plenty of mistakes," Elmasry told CNN. "But in medicine, they talk about triaging. If someone goes into the emergency room with a gunshot wound to the chest and a broken arm, the doctors treat the gunshot wound to the chest, not the broken arm."

"The Brotherhood might be a broken arm with their mistakes," he said, but "this anti-democratic tendency within these circles that is the gunshot wound to the democratic chest, if you will, of Egypt."

AbdulMawgoud Dardery, a former member of parliament and a Muslim Brotherhood representative, told CNN's Amanpour program that the military could be an "honest broker" in a national dialogue. He said Morsy has reached out to opposition leaders many times, but the opposition "is afraid of democracy."

"It failed in the previous five elections we had in Egypt since the revolution, and they don't want to fail a sixth time," he said. "That's why they're going to street politics. Street politics is not an end in itself. It is a means to achieve democracy. But they're not willing to go toward a democratic system."

On Monday, protesters stormed the main headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the party that Morsy led before his election. Armed with Molotov cocktails, the mob set the office on fire, shouting, "The people have toppled the regime."

At least 16 people were killed and more than 780 were wounded Sunday and Monday during the unrest in Egypt, the nation's health minister said, according to the official Egypt News agency.

On Friday, Andrew Pochter, a 21-year-old American in Alexandria to teach children English, was stabbed to death while watching the demonstrations, his family said.

U.S. student killed in Egypt was enthralled with region

Dr. Mohammed Mustafa Hamid told the news agency that eight people alone were killed in clashes at the Muslim Brotherhood's national headquarters in Cairo. All but 182 of the wounded have left the hospital after receiving treatment for their injuries.

State-funded Egyptian daily Al-Ahram also reported 46 sexual assaults during anti-Morsy protests in Egypt since Sunday, citing volunteer group Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment.

Governments issue warnings against travel to Egypt

Opponents say Morsy's policies also are to blame for a breakdown in law and order and for a gas shortage that has Egyptians waiting at the pumps for hours. Monday's military statement seemed to adopt the protesters' perspective, calling the crisis a grave threat to national security while praising demonstrators as determined and admirable.

"Wasting more time will only lead to more division and fighting which we have and continue to warn against," the military said in its statement.

iReport: Protesters flood Cairo's streets

Morsy's supporters held smaller rallies Monday in other parts of Cairo. Some of them said he is the people's choice, that he inherited a broken system and should be given time to fix it.
Interactive map: Explore the locations of protests in Cairo, Egypt. Photos: AFP/Getty Images

"We're not leaving, and the president is staying," one supporter told CNN. "We believe in democracy. If people don't like him, they can vote him out in three years."

Dardery said Monday that the party might support early parliamentary elections. But he said the nation elected Morsy to a four-year term and should stand by that. To do otherwise would disrupt the country's nascent democracy, he said.

"It is not fair. It is not fair to a democracy," he said.

The developments were being closely watched around the region and in the United States, Egypt's leading ally. Speaking in Africa, U.S. President Barack Obama noted the protests and their demands.

"Our commitment to Egypt has never been around any particular individual or party. Our commitment has been to a process," he said.

Washington provided tens of billions of dollars in military and economic aid to Egypt under Mubarak and pledged $1 billion to the post-Mubarak government. Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters Monday that the U.S. Defense Department is reviewing the latest statement from the Egyptian military, but no one is sure what will happen "one way or the other" in the next two days.

So, will this end up being a good thing or bad thing in the long term?

[Flagg]

Egypt has gone 1 0 years without a benign military coup.

[Saxtonite]

Revolutions take a while to happen. Remember Libya is still doing similar things

[K. A. Pital]

Fuck Morsi and the Super Moslem Bros. Egypt's secular forces should stand their ground until the very end. The revolution is not over.

[Metahive]

Mursi had the bad luck of bringing in his reactionary policies at the same time as a general economic downturn. Guess he's not going to become the next Ayatollah Khomeini*.






*Although I think Khomeini's regime was largely saved by the Iraqi invasion, which put national unity at the forefront.

[K. A. Pital]

Khomenei built up a disciplined and fanatically loyal internal army from the very start and then used it to simply crush and then later murder all political opponents. Morsi had no such opportunity and hopefully will not have as his rule is running towards an end.

[Scorpion]

Revolutions take a while to happen. Remember Libya is still doing similar things

True that. After every Revolution, there is a normalization period where everything can go wrong. In my country, after the Glorious Carnation Revolution in '74, we had the Hot Summer of '75. It wasn't called so because of the temperature. There was a lot of civil unrest, as people put their newfound freedoms to test and several political faction vied for power. There were times where the country seemed at the brink of a second Civil War. But ultimately what decided that Portugal would become a democracy was the will of it's people and it's political leaders. No-one wanted Portugal to turn into the next Albania. And that's exactly what's gonna make or break Egyptian democracy. And considering not only the seemingly unbreakable will of the Egyptian people, but the attitude of it's military and also of the ruling government, I think it's got a good chance.

[TimothyC]

Current reports are that the Army has taken the State TV station and has surrounded the barracks where Morsi has been with barbed wire and armored vehicles. A statement from the Army is expected soon.

[Guardsman Bass]

I've got no love for the Muslim Brotherhood, but if Egypt ever wants democratic, civilian governance, they need to reign in, purge, and de-politicize the military. I'm hoping the military ends up backing down on this.

[Mr Bean]

You hope in vain, Morsi is reported under house arrest, the military and the opposition is due to announce a roadmap for the transition of power. Intial reports say it's going to be the nation state equivalent of a giant do over.

[Ace Pace]

I've got no love for the Muslim Brotherhood, but if Egypt ever wants democratic, civilian governance, they need to reign in, purge, and de-politicize the military. I'm hoping the military ends up backing down on this.

Because clearly depurging the military in Turkey did such a world of good for the democratic process over there....

[Siege]

Much like Guardsman Bass isn't a fan of the Muslim Brotherhood I myself am not a particularly big fan of prime minister Erdogan (or indeed his riot police), but it bears keeping in mind that he was democratically elected, and retains the support of what may very well be a majority of the Turkish people. Much like Morsi was democratically elected, in fact, in what I recall were free and fair elections. I'm not fully cognizant of what's going on in Egypt at this time, but it's been only what, a year since he assumed office? How much time were his opponents - among whom, arguably, the military - really willing to give him to attempt to achieve his promises?

[Guardsman Bass]

Because clearly depurging the military in Turkey did such a world of good for the democratic process over there....

It's certainly hobbled the military's capability to topple democratically-elected governments whenever they feel like it. And as Siege said, Erdogan (and Morsi) were democratically elected, even if you don't care for their ideology. Do you want a legitimate civilian government, or not?

[Ace Pace]

Because clearly depurging the military in Turkey did such a world of good for the democratic process over there....

It's certainly hobbled the military's capability to topple democratically-elected governments whenever they feel like it. And as Siege said, Erdogan (and Morsi) were democratically elected, even if you don't care for their ideology. Do you want a legitimate civilian government, or not?

Erdogan was legally elected into power, he then started detaining journalists for speaking out against the ruling party, and created a system where any democratic opposition to him is systematically blocked. Witness the recent protests for examples of where these actions are leading Turkey.

Much like Guardsman Bass isn't a fan of the Muslim Brotherhood I myself am not a particularly big fan of prime minister Erdogan (or indeed his riot police), but it bears keeping in mind that he was democratically elected, and retains the support of what may very well be a majority of the Turkish people. Much like Morsi was democratically elected, in fact, in what I recall were free and fair elections. I'm not fully cognizant of what's going on in Egypt at this time, but it's been only what, a year since he assumed office? How much time were his opponents - among whom, arguably, the military - really willing to give him to attempt to achieve his promises?

I'm not sure about politics, but all indications I've seen point that the military was perfectly willing to go along to being solely under his control, until the recent unrests reached these dramatic proportions.

[Siege]

Morsi is out. The army has announced they have removed him from office. The chief justice of constitutional court is to take over Mr Morsi's powers. So much for that experiment, I guess.

[cosmicalstorm]

The past couple of days have been a virtual rape-festival in Egypt. Women aging from 7-70 have been raped and gangraped in public. A dutch 22 year old who was dumb enough to show up at tarhir was gang-raped a few days ago. What the fuck is wrong with men in Egypt?

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 41,00.html

Month old video
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=da2_1365476951

[Guardsman Bass]

I remember ex-pats talking about how bad the sexual harassment was in Cairo even before Mubarak was toppled. Now it's at the point where there's more or less rape "gangs" in Tahrir who subvert just about any attempt to blunt them.

[Pelranius]

So if the President of the Constitutional Court is in charge of the transition, I guess El Baredei didn't want the job, then?

[Dr. Trainwreck]

What the fuck is wrong with men in Egypt?

Sexually repressed fundamentalists, doing their thing in absence of an authority that can stop them, is the specific shade of fuck that is wrong.

What's the moral? Well, the moral is: fundies love rape.

[Thanas]

I really doubt those were fundamentalists in the square considering they are demonstrating against Mursi.

If this continues I am pretty sure that the army will move in Les Miz style sooner or later. If the embarrassment gets too much to bear for them....

[Saxtonite]

The past couple of days have been a virtual rape-festival in Egypt. Women aging from 7-70 have been raped and gangraped in public. A dutch 22 year old who was dumb enough to show up at tarhir was gang-raped a few days ago. What the fuck is wrong with men in Egypt?

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 41,00.html

Month old video
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=da2_1365476951

When you have your sexuality constrained and bottled up, it comes out in violent ways. It's like a nuclear reactor with no coolant system melting down.

I really doubt those were fundamentalists in the square considering they are demonstrating against Mursi.

Weren't there Muslim Brotherhood members etc sabotaging things? I remember people saying during the earlier revolution Mubarak supporters did that, so it could be something similar. And even if they are anti-Morsi they are not necessarily as 'liberal' socially as those in Germany...

[K. A. Pital]

Just about anything more secular than the Moslem Bros. would be a step forward. Why are people keen on depicting this as a "coup"? The Army did not flinch until there were 1,5 million people gathered in Cairo who were dead set on making sure Super Morsi does not become a next Pharaoh.

Much like Morsi was democratically elected, in fact, in what I recall were free and fair elections.

Bear in mind that he did this through a vote of a mobilized, army-like islamist minority, whereas the secular opposition to his rule was simply disorganized and did not put a good enough fight at the ballot.

This does NOT mean islamists represent the majority of Egypt's people. Just look at the vote turnout. How can one seriously claim that he represents the majority when most people abstained from voting on the most controversial subject - the Constitution?

[Siege]

He did represent the majority of voters though, and much as I dislike Islamists of any stripe, that's what democracy is about. If you lose free and fair elections you don't get to rise up and violently seize power, or at least you don't get to do that and pretend you give a damn about democracy afterward. Not even when you are secular and happen to be more to our tastes.

[LaCroix]

He did represent the majority of voters though, and much as I dislike Islamists of any stripe, that's what democracy is about. If you lose free and fair elections you don't get to rise up and violently seize power, or at least you don't get to do that and pretend you give a damn about democracy afterward. Not even when you are secular and happen to be more to our tastes.

And millions of people protesting and demanding him to step down is not democracy? The people voted him out of office - his ministers got the clue and resigned, Mursi didn't want to, the military enforced the will of the people. Right after toppling Mursi, they immediately relinquished control to the Head of Constitutional Court, who immediately announced that there will be elections, soon.

I see a working democracy.

[K. A. Pital]

He did represent the majority of voters though, and much as I dislike Islamists of any stripe, that's what democracy is about.

That is unfair. Some people may boycott the elections since they either feel disempowered, they may be shunned or threatened to avoid the election and/or vote for the "wrong" candidate (see Afghanistan) and so on. If there is a high turnover, then the elections - much like a referenda - represent the will of the people, majority rule. However, if the turnover is minimal, and the atmosphere is non-conducive to mass participation, no one can claim that the elections represent the wishes of the majority.

Let's be fair - are you saying people in North African countries are really 'free' to vote for secular politicians? I am asking this because secular politicians are simply murdered in these nations, and it has not been like four or five months since the murder of Chokri Belaid in Tunisia, who was the leader of the secular left-wing opposition to the "moderate Islamists". In such an atmosphere "free and fair" seems to be a bit stretching it.

If you lose free and fair elections you don't get to rise up and violently seize power, or at least you don't get to do that and pretend you give a damn about democracy afterward. Not even when you are secular and happen to be more to our tastes.

I disagree. When Hitler was put to power by party politics which forged an alliance between NSDAP and several smaller right-wing parties, that was done through a democratic process. However, if the elected side does not give a damn about democracy itself, and there were signs that Morsi is trying to usurp power, then you can and should raise the issue outside the ballot box. Up to the point where resistance becomes the only morally viable choice.