Joy and fury as president falls
Egypt exploded into celebration and violence yesterday as the army overthrew Mohamed Morsi, the country’s democratically elected Islamist president, after a year in office.
As fireworks lit up the sky over Tahrir Square and Cairo’s presidential palace, where opposition supporters had been massed all day in their hundreds of thousands, Morsi’s supporters denounced the coup, warning of a return to rule by a junta.
Senior military commanders of the Middle East’s most populous country told Morsi he had been stripped of office. Several of his allies in the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested at the same time.
Hours later, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the head of the Egyptian armed forces, appeared on television to confirm that the military would replace Morsi with an interim head of state.
He said Egypt’s constitution had been suspended, and preparations would be made for new presidential and parliamentary elections. The general’s statement marked a humiliating end to Morsi’s inglorious presidency, but it also stymied Egypt’s nascent transition towards democracy.
Even those desperate to see the back of the Muslim Brotherhood expressed wariness at the precedent being set with the army removing a democratically elected government.
As jubilant opposition supporters celebrated in Tahrir Square, elsewhere in the capital fighting broke out. The crisis has left at least 37 dead and hundreds injured. Most of the deaths happened during a gun battle near Cairo University on Wednesday night that both sides blamed on each other.
On Tuesday, the army issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Morsi to listen to the will of his people. As the deadline expired yesterday, troops and armoured vehicles moved onto the streets. A demonstration by Muslim Brotherhood supporters in eastern Cairo was encircled and soldiers took up positions outside the office where Morsi remained hidden from view.
The military has imposed travel bans on the former president and several senior officials in his party. Two high-ranking Islamists were prevented from boarding a flight to Jordan by troops who secured Cairo’s international airport. The headquarters of Egypt’s state television and radio were also seized.
Before Sisi’s announcement, senior military figures spent the afternoon in talks with opposition and religious leaders to construct an interim government.
Adly Mansour, 68, the head of Egypt’s constitutional court, was appointed interim president and will hold office until the elections.
Mohammad el-Baradei, the Nobel peace-prize-winning former head of the International Atomic
Protesters gather in Tahrir Square as the army deadline approaches. Opposition supporters had been massed all day in their hundreds of thousands. Energy Agency, was named official spokesman for all of the political groups represented in the new government.
The new leadership will be comprised of a range of religious leaders, civilians, and opposition groups.
Many of those massed in Tahrir Square and outside the presidential palace voted for Morsi last year. But fearful that the 2011 revolution has been usurped by Islamists, they were willing to tear up the country’s fledgling democracy and begin again. The Muslim Brotherhood has aroused fury by redrafting the constitution and packing state institutions with Islamist allies. But the party’s incompetent handling of Egypt’s crumbling economy plunged millions of people into hardship.
Morsi tried to cling on to power, appearing on TV on Wednesday to stress his legitimacy as Egypt’s first democratically elected leader. As the army’s deadline passed he issued a statement offering vague concessions but insisting that he remain in office. However, popular opinion had already moved decisively against him.