From peacemaker to dictator? Egypt erupts again over Morsi's grab for absolute power http://tinyurl.com/a82roou via @allvoices
8:57 PM - 23 Nov 12 · Details
From peacemaker to dictator? Egypt erupts again over Morsi's grab for absolute power
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During Friday's 'Day of Rage,' a woman protest Egypt's Morsi's 'absolute power play'
In what can only be called a stunningly swift switch, Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi has gone from key Middle East cease-fire negotiator to dictator, in just one day.
Mass crowds are once again rioting in Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square, where the Arab Spring began over a year ago. The revolution was successful in ousting Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s ruler for 30 years, and led to peaceful elections.
This is the second time since the revolution that Egyptians have gathered in the place where it all started, questioning whether they were duped into believing promises of democracy when the new leaders are more interested in the same dictatorial rule of the past regime.
Has the newly elected Morsi, after being instrumental in brokering the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday, after eight days of intense violence, sabotaged his reputation as a peace-broker? Is he undermining the U.S. confidence in his ability to orchestrate change in the region if he’s not pushing for change in his own country?
CNN is reporting that on Thursday, Morsi granted himself absolute power for six months—which means he can rule his country unchecked by the courts and cannot be challenged for any reason until there is a new Parliament. He already has executive and legislative powers and this total control in the absence of a Parliament or a new constitution is alarming, to say the least.
The chanting crowds who are calling him a “dictator” and the “new Pharaoh,” are being tear-gassed by police and warning shots are also being fired into the air to disperse the angry crowds. Stones are being thrown at the security forces and fires are raging in some parts, with cars ablaze in the streets. The revolt began at 1 p.m. local time and has been going on now for 10 hours.
Seems like déjà vu, for it was not long ago that the Egyptian people revolted, taking to the Square for months until Mubarak stepped down. Some died fighting but compared to Libya, Syria and Tunisia, Egypt’s change was seen as a resounding victory with less bloodshed. But did this less violent change of command occur because the military secretly wanted to oust Mubarak, so refrained from the bloody suppression seen in Libya and currently in Syria? Was the Arab Spring a covert military coup?
We in the West see democracy as government for the people, of the people and by the people, but what does democracy mean to these new government ushered in after a series of Arab Spring revolts? From Morsi’s recent power grab, we know it means something entirely different to what the US or the UN would love to import, or should I say export, to the region.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate and reformist Mohamed ElBaradei, took to Twitter to voice his deep concern about the Egyptian president’s recent decree, tweeting: “ Morsi usurped all state power today and appointed himself the new Pharaoh,” adding that he has dealt “a major blow to the revolution that could have dire consequences.”
Meanwhile the fragile cease-fire between Israel and Gaza is threatened by the reported killing of Palestinian at the border dividing the region on Friday. Israel’s version is a group of Palestinians refused to heed warnings of retreat when ordered to and Hamas is saying the opposite—that Israeli forces shot and killed the victim without just cause.
