Tragic events in Egypt Category: NewsPublished on Sunday, 07 July 2013 05:00Written by -Hits: 17 Tweet 1 0 0 Share Hopes that we had seen the last of military coups on the African continent were rudely dashed last Wednesday when the Egyptian Armed Forces suspended the country’s constitution, removed President Mohamed Morsi from office and installed the President of the Supreme Constitutional Court Mr Adly Mansour as interim president. The Defence Minister General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi announced the move following the expiration of a 48 hour ultimatum which the soldiers handed down to Morsi on Monday toreach an agreement with the opposition and end the political crisis in the country. Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians had been protesting at the Tahrir Square in Cairo and in other cities calling for Mr Morsi’s resignation after only a year in office. Morsi, who won Egypt’s first fully democratic elections last year as the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood, refused to step down and insisted on serving out his term. General Al-Sisi said a new constitution will be written and the interim president will call new parliamentary and presidential elections after“a short interim period.” The army, he said, only heeded the demands of millions of Egyptians who took to the streets in protest for several days. The coup was greeted by displays of joy at Cairo’s Tahrir square and other hotspots of protest. The deposed president Morsi however called what happened “an illegal military coup.” Within hours, supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood took to the streets to protest Morsi’s removal. The army howeverpressed ahead with its plans and Adli Mansour was sworn in as Egypt’s interim president Thursday morning. Mansour, who was appointed chief justice of the country’s Supreme Constitutional Court three days before the coup, said he is looking forward to conducting new elections. The same day, the army began a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood. Ex-President Morsi was placed under house arrest. Mohammed Badie, supreme leader of the Brotherhood was arrested in Mersa Matruh city together with his deputy, Khairat el-Shater. Also arrested were former Muslim Brotherhood Chief Dr Mahdi Akef, the head ofMorsi’s Freedom and Justice Party [FJP] Sa’ad el-Katatni and his senior aide Essam el-Haddad. Arrest warrants were also issued for 300 other Muslim Brotherhood members. Some of them were charged with “insulting the judiciary” and also for plotting the shooting of protesters, same charge that Mubarak stood trial for. As the week ended, the security situation in Egypt deteriorated when the Brotherhood declared last Friday a “day of rage.” Tens of thousands of its supporters took to the streets in protest. By Saturday, 36 people were confirmed dead and hundreds of others were wounded in clashes around the country. World reaction to the ousting of Mohammed Morsi was decidedly mixed. The Western powers refused to condemn what happened in Egypt or even call it a coup. US President Barack Obama said he was “deeply concerned by the decision of the Egyptian Armed Forces to remove President Morsi and suspend the Egyptian constitution.” He urgedthe new regime “to move quickly and responsibly to return full authority back to a democratically elected civilian government as soon as possible through an inclusive and transparent process, and to avoid any arbitrary arrests of President Morsi and his supporters.” He also said “The voices of all those who have protested peacefully must beheard - including those who welcomed today’s developments and those who have supported President Morsi.” British Prime Minister David Cameron said, “We never support in countries the intervention by the military, but what needs to happen now in Egypt is for democracy to flourish and for a genuine democratic transition to take place.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Egypt’s “problems can only be solved if Egypt enters a political process as quickly as possible and democracyand rule of law will be established as soon as possible.” European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said “I urge all sides to rapidly return to the democratic process, including the holding of free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections and the approval of a constitution, to be done in afully inclusive manner.” United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon said “An inclusive approach is essential to addressing the needs and concerns of all Egyptians...In their protests many Egyptians have voiced deep frustrations and legitimate concerns. At the same time, military interference in the affairs of any state is of concern.” The Russian Foreign Ministry said “We consider it important for all political forces in Egypt to exercise restraint... to consider the broad national interests of their actions, and to prove that they strive to solve the brewing political and socio-economic problems in a democratic framework.”
Posted on: Sun, 07 Jul 2013 13:22:04 +0000
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