Backing Off Added Powers, Egypt's Leader Presses Vote

Share with others:

Print Email Read Later




Taken together, the announcements, rolled out over a confusing day, appeared to indicate the president's determination to do whatever it takes to get to the referendum, which his Islamist supporters say will lay the foundation of a new democracy and a return to stability.


In recent days, mobs have attacked more than two dozen Muslim Brotherhood offices and ransacked the group's headquarters, and more than seven people have died in street fighting between Islamists and their opponents.


The moves on Saturday offered little hope of fully resolving the standoff, in part because opposition leaders had ruled out -- even before his concessions were announced -- any rushed attempt at a compromise just days before the referendum.


Nor did Mr. Morsi's Islamist allies expect his proposals to succeed. Many said they had concluded that much of the secular opposition was primarily interested in obstructing the transition to democracy at all costs, to try to block the Islamists from winning elections. Instead, some of the president's supporters privately relished the bind they believed Mr. Morsi had built for the opposition by giving in to some demands, forcing their secular opponents to admit they are afraid to take their case to the ballot box.


The military "realizes its national responsibility for maintaining the supreme interests of the nation and securing and protecting the vital targets, public institutions and the interests of the innocent citizens," the spokesman said, warning of "divisions that threaten the State of Egypt."

"Dialogue is the best and sole way to reach consensus that achieves the interests of the nation and the citizens," he added. "Anything other than that puts us in a dark tunnel with drastic consequences, which is something that we will not allow."

If Mr. Morsi goes through with the plan, it would represent a historic role reversal. For six decades, Egypt's military-backed authoritarian presidents used martial law to hold on to power and to jail Islamists like Mr. Morsi, a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. It would also come just four months after he managed to pry power out of the hands of the country's top generals, who had seized control when Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year and then held on to it for three months after Mr. Morsi's election.

The announcement of impending martial law marked the steepest escalation yet in the political battle between Egypt's new Islamist leaders and their secular opponents over the draft constitution.


Calling in the army could overcome the danger of protests or violence that might disrupt the referendum and the parliamentary election to follow. But resorting to the military to secure the vote could also undermine Mr. Morsi's hopes that a strong showing for the constitution would be seen as a sign of national consensus that could help end the political crisis.

Brotherhood officials cheered the military's statements, noting they closely resembled the president's own speeches about a "national dialogue" and moving forward toward democracy.

But Moataz Abdel-Fattah, a former adviser to Egypt's transitional prime minister who is close to Defense Minister Abdul Fattah el-Sisi, said that the military also sought to make clear it was not joining either camp.

"The military is saying, 'Do not let things get so bad that we have to intervene,' " Mr. Abdel-Fattah said. "In the short term it is good for President Morsi, but in the long run they are also saying, 'We belong to the people, and not Mr. Morsi or his opponents.' "

After taking office, Mr. Morsi spent months courting the generals, sometimes earning the derision of liberal activists for his public flattery of their role. And the constitution his supporters eventually drew up included protections of the military's autonomy and privileges within the Egyptian government, despite the protests of the same activists.

Those provisions suggested an understanding between the military and Mr. Morsi that may now allow him to call on the generals' help.


If the military does secure the polls, that would appear to undermine the opposition's argument that the latest unrest had all but ruled out this week's referendum.

"Under the present circumstance, how can you conduct a referendum or an election when chaos is reigning and you have protests everywhere?" Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister under Mr. Mubarak and now an opposition leader, asked in an interview Saturday.


This article originally appeared in The New York Times.


You have 2 remaining free articles this month

Try unlimited digital access

If you are an existing subscriber,
link your account for free access. Start here

You’ve reached the limit of free articles this month.

To continue unlimited reading

If you are an existing subscriber,
link your account for free access. Start here