Anti-Mursi fervor growing in Egypt
WHETHER it’s angry Copts or the ongoing demonstrations against his rule, Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi continues to face growing challenges and growing nationwide unrest — even while he tries to win a trip to outer space.
Mursi’s latest move was to issue a presidential decree amending the dates for the four-stage parliamentary elections in order to placate angry Copts and meet the Christians’ demands that the dates not coincide with the Coptic Easter holiday. The first stage of balloting will now be on April 27.
Speaking before the change of dates for the election was announced, former lawmaker Mohamed Abu Hamed said, “These are illegal parliamentary elections. Mursi intentionally chose the days of Coptic Christian holidays to hold the elections so people won’t vote. A conspiring regime is doing all it can to control the nation.”
Meanwhile, while demonstrations against Mursi and his party of the Muslim Brotherhood are spreading and intensifying ahead of a planned March trip to Moscow, he still found time to reshuffle his Cabinet — seen as a test of public opinion.
Last week, President Mursi dismissed one of his deputies, Khaled Abdel Malak, who also represents the Salafist Al-Nour party. The president’s office released a statement saying, “This dismissal was based on personal conflicts and not political.”
The Salafists have responded by seeking other allies to secure their future under the Muslim Brotherhood government. Several media reports said the party is seeking an alliance with the Salvation Front party led by Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a Nobel laureate.
Mursi’s moves came as calls for civil disobedience that began in Port Said continued into the seventh straight day, with some other cities following suit.
Following Friday prayers, thousands of protesters marched through a number of Egyptian cities, united in what they called “The Friday of Prosecuting the Regime.” The demonstrators called for continuous civil disobedience in all private and government sectors and for a boycott of the April elections, which they call, “illegal.”
In Cairo, the protesters erected a stage in front of the presidential palace in the Ithadiya neighborhood and gave speeches against the rule of Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood. “Beware of the Muslim Brotherhood,” admonished one protester who was afraid to give her name. She said that, “We have to continue protesting. If we stop now, we will never be able to get rid of them.”
Different groups of demonstrators representing the opposition gathered in Tahrir Square and marched to the presidential place to show their discontent. While no clashes with police were reported, there were those who saw the protesters as being responsible for the recent violence in the streets.
So far the riots and protests that began in Cairo on Feb. 15 have resulted in at least 125 injuries inflicted by the riot police according to the Egyptian official newspaper Al-Ahram. Protesters are accusing Mursi of being responsible for the deaths of at least 70 people in the Port Said soccer riots on Jan. 30, after which the president declared a 30-day state of emergency there, and in the cities of Ismailia and Suez. They are calling for Mursi to be tried for those deaths. The unrest is having a crippling effect on Egypt’s economy. On Feb. 13, Moody’s Investors Service lowered Egypt’s bond rating to the B3 category, six levels below investment grade, according to Arabian Business magazine.
Observers say the nation has entered a tough transitional period, with the situation unlikely to improve, at least in the short term.
Amr Moussa, former secretary-general of the Arab League and head of a major opposition party, said in a statement that the upcoming elections “will coincide with the collapse of the Egyptian foreign currency reserves. This will further intensify the disturbances in the country.” But it was the opposition group called the April 6th Youth Movement which came up with a truly innovative way to show its discontent with Mursi. On its Facebook page, the group announced that the president recently entered an online contest organized by Axe Cosmetics to win a trip into space.
So far Mursi has received over 21,000 votes, putting him in first place. “Maybe he can rule people on the moon. I don’t believe that he is fit to rule our country,” a young taxi driver said. During his presidential campaign, Mursi was hailed as being a research scientist at the NASA space center.
Meanwhile, the current status quo is confusing to many Egyptians. Some observers say that the Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t appear as if they can be trusted with the fate of the Egyptian nation. “Whatever the Muslim Brotherhood is doing now is neither going to make an impression now, nor a lasting impact. They will have wasted their last 80 years of struggle for recognition,” Ayman Al-Sayad, a former consultant with a consortium advising Mursi, said in an interview with Tahir TV.
