Op-ed: Egypt’s democratic dictator?
BY OMAR ASHOUR CAIRO Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first-ever elected civilian president, recently granted himself sweeping temporary powers in order, he claims, to attain the objectives of the revolution that overthrew Hosni Mubarak’s dictatorship. But the decrees incited strong opposition from many of the revolutionary forces that helped to overthrow Mubarak (as well as from forces loyal to him), with protests erupting anew in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Morsi has thus been put in the odd position of having to defend his decision against the protesters while simultaneously making common cause with them. “I share your dream of a constitution for all…
MPs avoid PA showdown
BY SARAH EL SIRGANY and RANIA AL MALKY Cairo: It was hyped up as a confrontation between military-led state institutions and election legitimacy, but the anticlimactic arrival of a handful of members of the recently dissolved parliament on Tuesday revealed that no one had confrontation in mind except some enthusiastic protesters. On Monday night, an official at the Freedom and Justice Party, whose MPs constitute the bigger part of the Islamist majority, said that MPs will march to parliament on Tuesday to attend the session as scheduled. The same official, Yasser Ali, was vague about the prospect of confrontation. The…
