Mursi’s sacking spree reinforces his powers
OVER the last week, Egypt’s new President Muhammad Mursi, drawn from the Muslim Brotherhood, has shown beyond a shadow of doubt that he’s no lame duck, even though he took office as a leader without a job description in light of the country’s yet-to-be drawn constitution. A military decree, issued by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), had disbanded Parliament’s Islamist-dominated upper and lower house in accordance with a decision by the Supreme Constitutional Court. SCAF swiftly awarded itself legislative authority and placed restrictions on what the civilian head of state could or could not do.
It was generally believed that the military, which controls up to 30 percent of Egypt’s economy, would remain the hand that rocked the country’s cradle behind the scenes which was somewhat of a comfort to right-wingers, elements of the left, liberals and Copts, concerned about a Muslim Brotherhood takeover. In just a few short months, that perception has dramatically changed.
Early on, President Mursi displayed that he would not be content with a figurehead role by reconvening Parliament in contravention of SCAF’s order. But at that point, he was unprepared for a major face-off against the military and the judiciary swiftly conceding that he would abide by the court’s ruling. Mursi lost that battle to assert his authority with good grace but it appears he had a plan to win the "war", which he did in one fell swoop on Sunday, shocking the nation with an audacious announcement.
Those who believed that SCAF’s hand-over of its powers to the president was just a fancy ceremony to appease disgruntled revolutionaries and the Obama administration, that had heaped pressure on the military to bow to a democratically elected civilian government, were mistaken. Overnight, SCAF, the army, the air force, the navy, the Suez Canal authority and the country’s intelligence apparatus have been decapitated of chiefs from the old guard. The entire leadership of the defense establishment has been forced into the sunset. Moreover, the military has been stripped of its rights to oversee the country granted by a constitutional amendment.
Mursi is on a sacking binge. Last week, subsequent to the killing of 16 Egyptian border guards in northern Sinai, he dismissed the governor of Sinai and the head of general intelligence. The biggest shock of all was the firing — some might say sidelining — of the defense minister and head of SCAF Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi and his Chief of Staff Gen. Sami Anan, now medal-adorned honorary advisers to the president.
Nobody could have envisioned that two of the most high-profile, influential figures in the land would accept to walk away as quietly as they seemingly have done. Egypt’s new minister of defense who also commands the army will be Gen. Abdul-Fatah Al-Sessi; replacing Anan is Lt. Gen. Sidki Sayed Ahmed, neither are well-known household names.
Most local and international newspapers are characterizing the president’s unexpected moves as “brave" or "courageous." They’re right. Sacking the men in control of the firepower might have been the last decision he was permitted to take had Tantawi and Anan chosen to vigorously object. Tantawi, once dubbed “Mubarak’s poodle” wasn’t a popular figure on the street; he didn’t attract adoration but since Mubarak’s toppling, he was thought of as a pair of safe hands who would be a moderating influence on an untried and inexperienced Islamist president.
Mursi has been clever and decisive. He struck while the iron was hot, at a time when he had accrued kudos with the population and the military’s rank and file for his forthright reaction to the Sinai incident involving the deployment of soldiers and tanks within the peninsula with Israel’s permission — as well as his authorization for Apache attack helicopters to strike at rebels, seen circling the area’s skies for the first time since the 1979 Camp David peace treaty was signed.
The president has explained his clean sweep to the media as something that needed to be done to refresh the nation with new blood in conformity with the revolution’s principles.
On the other hand, Mursi may have chosen to roll heads to pre-empt the possibility of a military coup, which some secularists and anti-Islamists, such as Tawfiq Okasha, the owner of Faraeen TV, have been vocally advocating, whipping up supportive up-to a million-strong crowds of demonstrators in the process; those who "greeted" Hillary Clinton with shoes, rotten tomatoes, eggs and insulting placards during her last visit to Egypt. Their message to her was clear. ‘Quit backing the Muslim Brotherhood over the army!’
Short of going onto the street to poll passersby as to their views on their president’s assertive stance, it’s difficult to gauge the public’s reaction with any certainty, especially since some of the most outspoken media outlets are no longer functioning. Faraeen TV was taken off air for a month with a warning that its license may be revoked. Okasha is being investigated for inciting viewers to assassinate the president and calling for a military coup.
Likewise, the independently-owned newspaper Al-Dostour, known for its vehemently anti-Brotherhood positions, is under investigation for alleged sedition. On Wednesday, Egypt’s Shoura Council replaced 50 editors of state-owned publications with others more sympathetic to the MB’s goals, eliciting fears, even among Islamists, that the once heavily-censored Egyptian media is about to lose its hard-won freedom of expression.
To sum up, President Mursi has acted wisely at least in principle; his actions are appreciated by most of the main political parties that had feared the revolution had achieved only cosmetic results. He has appointed a senior judge as his vice president and has included two women in his Cabinet, one of them a Copt. He has also pledged to hold a public referendum on a draft constitution. If he puts his newly-accrued powers to good use and can manage to woo his secularist and liberal opponents by delivering stability, security and economic progress to his country all well and good. For now, the jury’s still out.
