Post-revolution polls in Egypt

In Upheaval for Egypt, Morsi Forces Out Military Chiefs

CAIRO — President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt forced the retirement on Sunday of his powerful defense minister, the army chief of staff and several senior generals, in a stunning purge that seemed for the moment to reclaim for civilian leaders much of the political power the Egyptian military had seized since the fall of Hosni Mubarak last year.

Mr. Morsi also nullified a constitutional declaration, issued by the military before he was elected, that eviscerated the powers of the presidency and arrogated to the military the right to enact laws. It was not immediately clear whether he had the constitutional authority to cancel that decree.

In a news conference broadcast about 5 p.m., Mr. Morsi’s spokesman, Yasser Ali, announced the retirements of the defense minister, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, and the army chief of staff, Sami Anan. He said that both men would serve as advisers to the president, suggesting that they had acquiesced to the plan.

The president also replaced the commanders of the Navy, Air Force and air defense, and named a senior judge, Mahmoud Mekki, as his vice president. During the Mubarak era, Mr. Mekki fought for judicial independence and spoke out frequently against voting fraud.
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BTW, what's going on with old Hosni Mubarak these days?

I take it that reports that he was "clinically dead" were unfounded?

Has he managed to find a way to spend his remaining days in a hospital rather than a prison cell?

I wonder to what extent his health issues are real as opposed to malingering.
 
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I was just coming here to post about this. No one really seems to know what this is all about. Egyptian media is apparently painting this as a mutual decision, and not a unilateral declaration by Morsi, but the media there isn't exactly trustworthy.
 
Well, the military would be smart, IMHO, to make a deal now in which they relinquish power to civilian control in exchange for a relatively comfortable and dignified retirement than continue to try to maintain their grip on power despite the will of the people for democracy. Mubarak could have had such a deal, but he stubbornly tried to maintain his grip on power until the bitter end.
 
Eddie Dane said:
I'm actually pretty damned impressed with this.
Maybe the Egyptian people didn't buy a lemon after all.

There's a tug of war between "Guided democracy" and real democracy.
If Morsi nudges the military out of the political process, he'll have earned his pay-check IMHO.
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But wait, there's more:
Two Egyptian journalists will go on trial accused of incitement to murder President Mohammed Mursi and sowing sectarian discord, prosecutors say.

Tawfiq Ukasha, the owner of the private al-Faraeen TV station, and Islam Afifi, the editor of the private al-Dustour newspaper, will be tried in Cairo.

The move is seen by some analysts as an attempt by Egypt's powerful Muslim Brotherhood to suppress the opposition.

...Mr Mursi also issued a constitutional declaration giving him broad legislative and executive powers.
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Not a good sign IMHO.

...
 
I will be interested when the figures come out about whether the upheaval has impacted tourism in Egypt.
And I am not being sarcastic. Tourism is vitally important to the Egyptian Economy, and the downturn in that since the global recession probably was a major factor in Mubarak's overthrow.
 
dudalb said:
I will be interested when the figures come out about whether the upheaval has impacted tourism in Egypt.
And I am not being sarcastic. Tourism is vitally important to the Egyptian Economy, and the downturn in that since the global recession probably was a major factor in Mubarak's overthrow.
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Tourism was reportedly down by a third in 2011 compared to 2010.
 
Puppycow said:
This Morsi is full of surprises.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/af...ocId=CNG.fb8dd20e4b2a34dde01d223b54e3399b.411
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The uprising against Assad has a heavily religious component, with a mostly-Sunni population fighting a minority-Alawite-dominated government that is supported by a Shiite theocratic country. It's not surprising to me that the President of Egypt, a member of the conservative-Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, supports the Sunni rebels against the Alawite Assad and his Iranian Shia allies.
 
ANTPogo said:
The uprising against Assad has a heavily religious component, with a mostly-Sunni population fighting a minority-Alawite-dominated government that is supported by a Shiite theocratic country. It's not surprising to me that the President of Egypt, a member of the conservative-Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, supports the Sunni rebels against the Alawite Assad and his Iranian Shia allies.
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Yep, I strongly suspect that loyalty to the Sunni side of the conflict is the driver behind Morsi's support for the rebels. Not his love of the democratic fight against dictatorships.

Sometimes it's just sad to see how much Iran wants to be liked by the rest of the Islamic world.
They make a big show of being pro-Palestinian, they're extra zealous ant-Israel, and they throw these big Muslim love-in events.

And then they end up like the nerdy kid trying to get in with the cool kids, and just get's laughed at.

They should go Sunni, or just give up and revert to Zoroasterism.
 
ANTPogo said:
You don't need to bribe someone to do something they were always going to do anyway.
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Viewing conflicts in the middle east through strictly sectarian lenses is a traditional weakness of Orientalists, and sometimes wishful thinking. Will be interesting to see how the diplomatic relationship between Egypt and Iran (who name the "Arab Spring" "Islamic Awakening") will develop after this summit. Can only go upwards anyway, and already did by Morsi attending.
 
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