At least 100,000 people gathered Nov. 27 in Egypt’s Tahrir Square, some of them clashing with police, Fox News and AP reported. Poitical turmoil will likely continue in Egypt in response to executive decrees issued Nov. 22 by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. The decrees grant the president absolute power, including immunity from legal rulings. Opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood, including members of the judiciary, have used legal suits as their main vehicle for challenging the Islamist movement and Morsi.
Egypt is now in the beginning of the process of redefining itself as an Islamist country. The Islamist-led government wants to neutralize the judiciary as a necessary step in consolidating its power within the country. It needs to shut down legal challenges so that the Muslim Brotherhood can work on regaining control of the parliament (which was dissolved by a Supreme Court ruling in June) and position Brotherhood members within the country’s civil service and state agencies and institutions as quickly as possible. With the Brotherhood moving to entrench itself within the state bureaucracy, unrest will likely persist, potentially creating an opening for the military to reassert itself.
Analysis
Morsi’s recent decrees block legal challenges to all of his presidential declarations, including any laws he has ratified since becoming president in June. In short, the decrees remove all checks and balances in the political system, placing the executive above both the judiciary and the legislature in Egypt. The decrees also extend by two months the mandate for the constituent assembly charged with drafting a new constitution and forbid any judicial body from dissolving or otherwise challenging the assembly or the Shura Council (the upper house of parliament), both of which are dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood.
In a speech Nov. 23, Morsi said the Supreme Constitutional Court, which was set to rule on the legality of the constituent assembly in December, had already decided to dissolve the body. The assembly was due to complete its mandate by mid-December but a series of delays had held up the process. Just last week, several assembly members resigned, citing disagreements with the Islamists. The extension of the body’s mandate and forbiddance of its dissolution ensure that a constitution will eventually be drafted; this is key because legislative polls cannot be held until a constitution is approved by national referendum.
Morsi also removed Prosecutor General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, a key opponent and lifetime appointee from the Mubarak era who Morsi tried and failed to remove in October. In his place Morsi appointed Talaat Ibrahim Abdallah, a former deputy head of the Court of Cassation, and limited the term of office to four years. However, Mahmoud has refused to step down even though Abdallah has been sworn in, and it is unclear who is serving as prosecutor general in Egypt at the moment.