Egypt’s Mursi Rebuffs Army Ultimatum, Sets Own Course
Source: REUTERS
President Mohamed Mursi rebuffed an army ultimatum to force a resolution to Egypt’s political crisis, saying on Tuesday that he had not been consulted and would pursue his own plans for national reconciliation.
The Islamist leader described as potentially confusing Monday’s 48-hour deadline set by the head of the armed forces for him to agree on a common platform with liberal rivals who have drawn millions into the streets demanding Mursi’s resignation.
Members of his Muslim Brotherhood have used the word “coup” to describe the military manoeuvre, which carries the threat of the generals imposing their own road map for the nation.
But in a statement issued at nearly 2 a.m., fully nine hours after General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi delighted Mursi’s opponents by effectively ordering the president to heed the demands of demonstrators, the president’s office used considerably less direct language to indicate he would try to take little notice.
Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/egypts-muslim-brotherhood-headquarters-attacked-eight-killed/article12902116/
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BainsBane
(53,072 posts)Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)It looks like the liberals will unite with the "deep state" (the government bureaucracies, including the judiciary, the police, and the military) to depose the nation's first democratically-elected, albeit now deeply unpopular, president.
Interesting bedfellows...
This probably doesn't bode well for peace and stability in Egypt.
Given the failure of the police to protect Muslim Brotherhood offices, not to mention the threat of seeing long-awaited political power snatched from their hands, the Brothers are now talking about "self-defense" militias.
joshcryer
(62,276 posts)It seems he's taking a much harder handed tack here, which will be popular with the islamist majority, but which is itself the potential problem maker for the future of Egypt's stability.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)If I understand correctly, the liberals have declined to enter into talks with him, preferring instead to drive him from office and replace him with...something. In cahoots with the Mubarakistas.
joshcryer
(62,276 posts)It's just that after the election it became an exclusive MB club of how Egypt was to be run and it pissed off a lot of the liberals who were actually instrumental toward allowing the MB to reassemble under one roof. November 2012 declared that no one can judicially appeal anything he does. Why? So that he can pack the judiciary. So that he can exclude the liberal element.
All Morsi has to do is say he's going to be inclusive as the military demands. That's it. End. If the military does form a coup as another poster suggested, then it's going to go south real fucking quick. The protesters make up a very small percentage of the population comparatively.
I think the liberals have made themselves pretty clear. They represent a relevant chunk of the population and want to be heard and involved. There's no real "entering into talks" when ... talks are being shut off from the beginning.
Give the liberals their 1% real representation in Egyptian society and they're silenced and neutered.
David__77
(23,511 posts)But they're a minority, and so have no power. That's democracy, right? Why should there be a requirement to be inclusive? Does "inclusive" mean power sharing? If it does - and I think it does - then why should the loser get power? I certainly would not want a victorious progressive government to give even a single bit of power to its opponents.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)...who tried to undercut the new president at every step.
The liberals lost the elections. Winners of elections get to do things. That's why elections matter. Perhaps Morsi could have tried harder to accomodate them, but I have the sneaking suspicion that nothing he could have done would have accomodated them. Just as now, they refuse talks.
I think if the Brotherhood was smart, they'd just pack it up, give the opposition the chance to run the country, and then sit back and let things continue to crumble under opposition rule. The opposition has done everything it can to make the country ungovernable; let it try to get the economy going and rein in the street thuggery. In a couple of years, the Brotherhood may not look so bad.
In the meantime, it looks like Mubarek/military regime redux. How ironic.
I think we have a problem with nomenclature. I use "liberals" as shorthand for the people who want bourgeois democratic freedoms, but I don't know how many of those millions on the streets are "liberals." Some are undoubtedly old regime supporters, some are just unhappy with the economy, the public insecurity, and the crappy governing of the Brothers.
