1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

Cairo protesters stage sit-in

November 23, 2012

Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's seizure of powers held a sit-in in Tahrir Square in Cairo. Morsi told fellow Islamists at a rally Friday that he was maintaining "political stability."

https://p.dw.com/p/16p5e
Morsi opponents hold a banner depicting the Egyptian president as a pharaoh, during a rally over Morsi decrees, in Garden City, Cairo, Egypt, 23 November 2012. Photo: EPA/ANDRE PAIN/epa03483533
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

The United States, the European Union and the United Nations said presidential decrees issued by Morsi - ostensibly to remove hitches in Egypt's transition to democracy - were counterproductive.

Morsi defended his moves as his supporters rallied outside his presidential palace, saying it was his "duty to continue the march of the revolution," in a reference to the popular revolt that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.

He promised judicial independence - although the new decrees guards him from court oversight - but said he would uncover allegedly corrupt elements in the judiciary.

Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi speaks to supporters in front of the presidential palace in Cairo November 23, 2012. Photo: REUTERS/Egyptian Presidency/Handout
Morsi defended his constitutional intervention at a supporters' rallyImage: Reuters

As Morsi spoke, police clashed with protestors near Tahrir Square while former senior UN official Mohamed ElBaradei in a social network message accused Morsi of appointing himself as "Egypt's new pharaoh". His opponents called for mass protest next Tuesday.

'Temporary dictator,' say critics

The independent Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm ran a headline "Morsi a 'temporary' dictator".

His decrees followed walkouts by liberals, Christians and others from an assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution prior to fresh elections. They had accused Islamists of ignoring their submissions about balancing powers.

In Alexandria, north of Cairo, protestors ransacked an office of the Muslim Brotherhood in which Morsi has his roots. Opponents and Morsi supporters clashed elsewhere in Alexandria, leaving 12 people injured.

Party buildings were also targeted by protestors in Port Said and Suez.

Near Tahrir Square in Cairo, protestors chanted "Down with Morsi Mubarak." Some, in a sign of unity between Egypt's Muslims and Christian minority, waved copies of both the Quran and Bible.

The United States, which had praised Egypt's new Islamist-led government for its mediating role in the ceasefire on Wednesday between Israel and Gaza militants, said Morsi's decrees raised "concerns for many Egyptians".

"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," said US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

Complete process, says EU

In Brussels, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said: "It is of utmost importance that the democratic process be completed in accordance with the commitments undertaken by the Egyptian leadership."

Amnesty International slammed Morsi's new powers, saying they "trample the rule of law and herald a new era of repression."

Thursday's decrees effectively place the president above judicial oversight until a new constitution is ratified.

During Egypt's popular uprising early last year some 850 protestors were killed in clashes with security forces of the former Mubarak-led government.

ipj/hc (dpa, AFP, Reuters)