We wrap up our coverage of today’s pro-Morsi and pro-Sharia law demonstrations, as the upwards of one hundred thousand supporters, still gathered at Cairo University in Giza, begin to withdraw.
Saturday’s rally, which followed a week of opposition protests and an on-going Tahrir Square sit-in in response to President Mohamed Morsi’s controversial constitutional decree, saw Muslim Brotherhood supporters and their Islamist allies from across the country converge by bus and on foot to the demonstration’s grounds in Giza. Dubbed the ‘Day of Legitimacy and Sharia,’ today’s demonstration gave Islamists in support of the constitutional declaration a chance to showcase their mobilisation potential as they seek to claim a popular and revolutionary legitimacy.
They also sought to show that Morsi still has the backing of many Egyptians, challenging Tahrir protesters who had camped out in the iconic square since 23 November to demand the cancellation of the constitutional declaration.
Both sides are showcasing their abilities to mobilise people as Egypt plunges into political deadlock, five months after Morsi assumed power in the country’s first democratic presidential elections.