Egypt's New President Challenges Military Leaders, Wants To Reestablish Parliament
CAIRO -- Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi challenged the nation’s military leaders Sunday by calling for parliament to reconvene, weeks after a high court ruled to dissolve the chamber amid fears that Islamists would dominate the government.
The move is the first provocative step by the newly elected president to confront Egypt’s entrenched generals in what is shaping to be a protracted battle for power between a burgeoning political Islam and a secular old guard loyal to deposed leader Hosni Mubarak. The military held an emergency meeting on the action but did not immediately respond, according to the official state news agency.
It is unclear whether Morsi has the authority to restore the Islamist-controlled parliament while the chamber’s fate remains before the courts. The strategy was part of a presidential decree that also called for a fresh legislature to be elected 60 days after a new constitution is ratified before the end of the year.
More at the link:http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/worl...07/egypt-.html
What could this mean for Egypt? An Islamist held government seems to be exactly what the Egypt's military is trying to prevent, and already they are met with challenges from the new President, himself a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, who wants to reform a majority Islamist held parliament.
Thoughts?
I don´t think that military is going to do anything directly, they will most likely use constitutional court as their tool in order to hold on their power by not re-opening parliament. This could lead towards clashes between Morsi and Court and MB may as well ignore whatever the court says. Hard to say what happens in that situation.
Morsi will play the card of the legitimacy of an elected representative to reestablish the parliament and and then prepare a new constitution. He will play the card of the need to achieve the aims of the revolution and to take the power of the military. He will be backed by the Muslim street and maybe by a party of the secular population.
The military have for them the decision of the Court.
The big question is what will be US' position. Clinton's visit was scheduled in few days...
This could get ugly. So many ways this could go and the bad ones are on the + side.
fixed for you...Originally Posted by Mein Teil
For all our sakes, I hope the United States never left
If only the tinfoil hat crowd was correct and that we called all the shots behind the scenes...Perhaps this visit is a kind of flower/hammer visit, with Mrs Clinton providing the flower (yew, never thought I'd say that). Morsi knows there's a hammer never far away.
The speaker of Egypt's Islamist-led parliament called for members of the lower house to meet on Tuesday, the state news agency reported, after this week's presidential decision to reverse an army order to dissolve the assembly.
Speaker Saad al-Katatni, in remarks published on Monday, a day after the presidential ruling, said parliament would convene at noon (1000 GMT) on Tuesday. The army had ordered the lower house
dissolved based on a court order.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7...253208,00.html
Egypt's highest court insisted Monday that its ruling that led to the dissolution of the Islamist-dominated parliament was final and binding, setting up a showdown with the country's newly elected president. The announcement on state TV came a day after President Mohammed Morsi recalled the legislators, defying the powerful military's decision to dismiss parliament after the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that a third of its members had been elected illegally.
However, both sides appeared together Monday at a military graduation ceremony. Morsi sat between the head of the armed forces Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and Chief-of-Staff Sami Anan. The three sat grim faced for most of the ceremony, but Tantawi and Morsi exchanged a few words while seated on the reviewing stand.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7...253292,00.html
Egypt's Islamist-led parliament reconvened on Tuesday in an open challenge to the generals who dissolved the assembly last month, stirring up tensions with the military just 10 days into Mohamed Mursi's presidency.
Parliament speaker Saad al-Katatni, who like Mursi hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, which has the biggest bloc in parliament, opened the session with a speech aired live on state television.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=276908
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote