Egypt President Mursi defends new powers amid protests
24 November BBC
President Mohammed Mursi has appeared before supporters in Cairo to
defend a new decree that grants him sweeping powers. He told them he was
leading Egypt on a path to "freedom and democracy" and was the guardian
of stability.
He was speaking as thousands of opponents gathered in Cairo's Tahrir
Square and offices of the president's party were attacked in several
cities. The decree says presidential decisions cannot be revoked by any
authority.Speaking at a rally at the presidential palace in Cairo, Mr
Mursi said he was working to secure a strong and stable nation, for
which there was a "great future".
He said: "I am for all Egyptians. I will not be biased against any
son of Egypt."
Mr Mursi said he was the guardian of political, economic and social
stability and wanted to see a "genuine opposition, a strong opposition".
"I am the guarantor of that and I will protect for my brothers in the
opposition all their rights so they can exercise their role.
"Mr Mursi also vowed to defend the independence of the executive,
judiciary and legislature and not issue decrees to settle scores.But
across the capital in Tahrir Square, thousands of the president's
opponents heeded calls to demonstrate against the decree.
Chants of "Mursi is Mubarak... revolution everywhere" rang out.
There were clashes between protesters and police in the square, with
tear gas fired at demonstrators and Molotov cocktails thrown in
return.According to Egypt's state-run news agency, Mena, three people
were injured in violence in Cairo's central Mohammed Mahmoud street.
Anti-Mursi protesters from more than 20 different groups have now
begun a week-long sit-in at Tahrir Square, and have called for a huge
protest on Tuesday.
Offices of the president's Muslim Brotherhood party have reportedly
been attacked in the cities of Port Said and Ismailia. Clashes between
rival demonstrations took place in Alexandria. Protesters in the
Mediterranean city stormed the offices of the Muslim Brotherhood's
political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, throwing out books and
chairs, and starting a fire.
Up to 2,000 demonstrators stormed the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters
in Suez, while hundreds of people also protested against the new decree
in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.Almost 100 people were injured
across the country, the health ministry said.
In a joint news conference on Thursday, Sameh Ashour, head of a
lawyers association, and key opposition figures Mohamed ElBaradei and
Amr Moussa accused Mr Mursi of "monopolising all three branches of
government" and overseeing "the total execution of the independence of
the judiciary".Mr ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, wrote on his
Twitter account that the president had "appointed himself Egypt's new
pharaoh. A major blow to the revolution that could have dire
consequences".
US state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Friday that
the decree had "raised concerns" in the international community, because
Egypt's revolution "was to ensure that power would not be overly
concentrated in the hands of any one person or institution".She said the
US wanted "democratic dialogue" within Egypt to solve constitutional
issues.
The new decree bans challenges to Mr Mursi's laws and decisions, and
says no court can dissolve the constituent assembly, which is drawing up
a new constitution.It also opens the way for a retrial of people
convicted of killings during Egypt's 2011 uprising which toppled
President Hosni Mubarak. The declaration also gives the 100-member
constituent assembly two additional months to draft a new constitution,
to replace the one suspended after Mr Mubarak was overthrown. The
rewrite of the constitution, which was meant to be finished by December,
has been plagued by lawsuits questioning the make-up of the constituent
assembly.Once completed, the document is due to be put to a referendum.
If it is approved, legislative elections will be held two months later.
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