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Egypt anti-government protests grow

Isn't Morsi mostly safeguarding the Constituent Assembly, and making sure his position as president can't simply be destroyed by the judges? This is the same judiciary that tried to annul the election results. So far Morse seems to have the weight of voter support on his side, and i think if the liberals-leftists try to fight him they'll find out how shallow their support is. Having said that, if they can put together a good show of force it'll hopefully head off any moves towards real dictatorship or rule by decree. But since the MB will dominate the parliament, why would they need an untouchable President?
 
Random said:
Isn't Morsi mostly safeguarding the Constituent Assembly, and making sure his position as president can't simply be destroyed by the judges?
Click to expand...

That's certainly the argument his camp is putting forward. He needs to find a way of shoring things up without giving himself unaccountable powers if he wants to retain support, though.
 
Random said:
Isn't Morsi mostly safeguarding the Constituent Assembly, and making sure his position as president can't simply be destroyed by the judges? This is the same judiciary that tried to annul the election results.
Click to expand...

I'm running low on time at the moment so cant respond to all your points but will quickly try to deal with the above.

The creation of a new constitution is one of the main problems at the moment for sure.

I dont remember the judiciary getting anywhere with destroying the presidential election results, but they did manage to kill the parliament, and again the big issue at stake there was to do with the writing of a new constitution.

Meanwhile in my book one of the most notable and staggering failures of the revolution & Morsi's administration has been the security services, very little sign of reform in this area at any point, not even a rebranding or a change of tactics to stop them throwing rocks & petrol bombs etc. And very little signs of anyone at the lower levels of the service being held to account for previous violence & deaths.
 
And yes the opposition arent really united, have little chance of electoral success (neo-nasserist Sabahi came closest), and some have iffy agendas regarding economy etc. Some of the people who still fight on the street dont seem to have a productive agenda, and meanwhile the continued industrial strife doesnt get featured int he news as much as it should. Throw in the fact that the old regime still have power in some areas such as sections of the media, and its a right old mess.

With that said, its still possible to imagine them getting a constitution thats fit for purpose and has enough secular elements to stop the worst fears coming to fruition, but its far from easy. Given that things like the IMF loan and the dodgy reforms it will bring, reduction in fuel subsidies etc have barely even begun, I do not predict calm in Egypt.
 
elbows said:
I'm running low on time at the moment so cant respond to all your points but will quickly try to deal with the above.

The creation of a new constitution is one of the main problems at the moment for sure.

I dont remember the judiciary getting anywhere with destroying the presidential election results, but they did manage to kill the parliament, and again the big issue at stake there was to do with the writing of a new constitution.

Meanwhile in my book one of the most notable and staggering failures of the revolution & Morsi's administration has been the security services, very little sign of reform in this area at any point, not even a rebranding or a change of tactics to stop them throwing rocks & petrol bombs etc. And very little signs of anyone at the lower levels of the service being held to account for previous violence & deaths.
Click to expand...
Yes, sorry, I meant the parliamentary election
 
Random said:
Isn't Morsi mostly safeguarding the Constituent Assembly, and making sure his position as president can't simply be destroyed by the judges? This is the same judiciary that tried to annul the election results. So far Morse seems to have the weight of voter support on his side, and i think if the liberals-leftists try to fight him they'll find out how shallow their support is. Having said that, if they can put together a good show of force it'll hopefully head off any moves towards real dictatorship or rule by decree. But since the MB will dominate the parliament, why would they need an untouchable President?
Click to expand...
1933Feb28EnablingActEng550pxw.png
 
The popular response to this power grab is quite encouraging though. Demonstrations across the country, MB offices attacked and burnt. It seems a significant number of Egyptians are not going to quietly allow another Mubarak to take power without a fight
 
Yeah, if we have learnt one thing in recent years its that a swathe of Egyptians are not about to sacrifice their dignity easily again, not once the fear-imposed shield broke so spectacularly, an event that brought more than one tear of joy to my eyes at the time.

Thats the happy side of it, the practical realities of creating something better are obviously not so hopeful.
 
Reports on twitter of MB militia groups attacking demonstrators outside Cairo. Both pro and anti MB demonstrations have been called for Tuesday. Things could get even uglier if this turns into a fight for the streets.
 
Morsi's just issued a statement saying that his decrees are only "temporary" and that he wants to talk. Looks like he's just blinked.
 
Well at the very least thats proof they can fill Tahrir square pretty good without the MB.

I just got a strange nostalgic feeling seeing some green lasers. It doesnt look like that particular live feed with be available for much longer.
 
MB still have their work cut out if they are going to defeat the latest wave of action:

President Mursi’s ‘Constitutional Decree’ sparks angry protests
http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/6055
"Three million workers in Egypt are now organised in 800 independent trade unions (compared to four independent unions before the 2011 uprising). Two thousand Ain al-Sokhna dockworkers employed by DP World (owned by the Dubai government) struck in October, with 800 occupying the port in shifts, bringing it to a standstill. They were protesting against the sacking of eight trade union activists and successfully forced the company to back down. Cadbury, Suzuki Motors, Pirelli Tyres and other multinational corporations have all sacked trade union activists."

....

"The Muslim Brotherhood is not immune to divisions. The chairman of the Shura Council was reported to have criticised Mursi’s announcement (although he subsequently denied this), despite being a leading Brotherhood member himself, while the Justice Minister said he had reservations about the President’s announcement."
 
I'm glad reuters keep extending the availability of the feed, been listening to it for hours now. Probably a good thing the MB cancelled their planned counter-demo for today.

The AP tried to come up with some numbers:

Shortly after nightfall, Tahrir birthplace of the uprising that toppled authoritarian president Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago was filled with a crowd that appeared to easily exceed 100,000, even before the arrival of thousands more still marching there.
The protest was comparable in size to the daily Tahrir rallies during last year's 18-day uprising.
Ringing out at the square was the central chant of the 2010-2011 Arab Spring revolts: "The people want to bring down the regime," and "erhal, erhal" Arabic for "leave, leave."
"Suddenly Morsi is issuing laws and becoming the absolute ruler, holding all powers in his hands," said protester Mona Sadek, a 31-year-old engineering graduate who wears the Islamic veil, a hallmark of piety.
"Our revolt against the decrees became a protest against the Brotherhood as well."
Click to expand...
 
Heavy Clashes between anti Morsi and pro Morsi demonstrators in Mahalla
A8ukSRoCUAAvkam.jpg:large


Thousands of demonstrators flooded Al-Shoun square in Al-Mahla city on Tuesday to protest President Mohamed Morsy’s latest constitutional decree giving him more powers, only for the protesters to face live fire.
“People started chanting against Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood while in the square which is near the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) headquarter,” said Mohamed Fathi, “suddenly bullets started flying everywhere from the FJP direction.”
Protesters fought with Brotherhood supporters until till they were able to get control over the square and the street again. Molotov cocktails are currently being thrown at the FJP headquarters.
Accounts of injuries have been reported, exact numbers still not available.
Click to expand...

Also reports of clashes in Assyut and Suez
 
Amidst reports of various MB offices being torched:

Ikhwanweb: Prez spox: no turning back,decree is staying, those not willing to reach to a point of stability will be held accountable to God & history
Click to expand...

doesn't sound like they got the hint
 
The question i want to ask is, has Morsi made these moves out of strength or weakness?

If the latter, what is the basis for his weakness, and what does he fear it may lead to if not checked in this way? Internal MB opposition to the pace and direction of his regime? Opposition from the other still almost wholly unreconstructed state bodies who have manged to maintain their independence and freedom of manouvere (that is the police, various intelligence bodies, the non-scaf army, state media etc - all of whom are pretty much just left to get on with consolidating their own power and influence)? Opposition from the ongoing and still escalating industrial disputes (which would entail pressure on him from the business and state-company management as well)?

If from strength, then what is it a step towards achieving and what other steps will be necessary in order to reach the goal? And who is going with him towards that goal?
 
Bit of Quick! Look over there! possibly going on:

Reuters: A court in Cairo has sentenced seven Egyptian Christians in absentia to death over anti-Islam film
 
This site generally covers the larger disputes in the strike report sections, but has been concentrating on other stuff recently. All fairly standard though.
Labourstart still going. Problem is the disputes amongst the tops taking the headlines. I'm sure i have more in my bookmarks, will check later.
 
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