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| Africa North |
| Morsi Issues Declaration Widening His Powers, Baradei Calls Him a 'New Pharaoh' |
| 2012-11-23 |
| [An Nahar] Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi assumed sweeping powers on Thursday, putting him on a collision course with the judiciary and raising questions about the country's democratic future. The move, just a day after Morsi took diplomatic centerstage in brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Gazoo's Islamist Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, rulers, earned him the same derisive monicker of "new pharaoh" leveled at veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... before his ouster in a popular uprising last year. "The president can issue any decision or measure to protect the revolution," according to a decree read out on television by presidential front man Yasser Ali. "The constitutional declarations, decisions and laws issued by the president are final and not subject to appeal." The move is a blow to the pro-democracy movement that toppled Mubarak last year, and raises concerns that Islamists will be further ensconced in power. Nobel laureate and former U.N. atomic energy agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei Egyptian law scholar and Iranian catspaw. He was head of the IAEA from December 1997 to November 2009. At some point during his tenure he was purchased by the Iranians. ElBaradei and the IAEA were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for something in 2005. After stepping down from his IAEA position ElBaradei attempted to horn in on the 2011 Egyptian protests which culminated in the collapse of the Mubarak regime. ElBaradei served on the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group, a lefty NGO that is bankrolled by the Carnegie Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as George Soros' Open Society Institute. Soros himself serves as a member of the organization's Executive Committee. lashed out at the declaration, which effectively puts the president above judicial oversight. "Morsi today usurped all state powers and appointed himself Egypt's new pharaoh. A major blow to the revolution that could have dire consequences," ElBaradei wrote on his Twitter account. Morsi also sacked prosecutor general Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, whom he failed to oust last month, appointing Talaat Ibrahim Abdallah to replace him, amid strong misgivings among the president's supporters about the failure to secure convictions of more members of the old regime. Within minutes of the announcement, the new prosecutor was shown on television being sworn in. The president in his pronouncements on Thursday ordered "new investigations and retrials" in the cases dealing with the deaths of protesters, a decision that could net senior military officials and see Mubarak reinvestigated. He also said no judicial body can dissolve the upper house of parliament or the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly that is writing a new constitution and which has been criticized by the secular-minded opposition for failing to represent all segments of society. He has also given the body -- which was due to issue a draft constitution in December -- two extra months to come up with a charter, that will then be put to a referendum. The declaration is aimed at "cleansing state institutions" and "destroying the infrastructure of the old regime," the president's front man said. Heba Morayef, Egypt Director at Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... welcomed the retrials but criticized aspects of the declaration. "What's fundamentally problematic and threatens both the rule of law and overall democratic checks and balances is his decision to give his decrees immunity from the judiciary until the constitution is passed," Morayef told Agence La Belle France Presse. And while the independence of the judiciary has been in question in the past, "these sledgehammer tactics only alienate the legal community," she said. "As a judge, I feel paralyzed," one judge at Egypt's State Council told AFP. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 Need to add a photo still from Steve Martin's "King Tut" video... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2012-11-23 10:32 |
| #5 Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Suckers. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2012-11-23 08:30 |
| #4 "The constitutional declarations, decisions and laws issued by the president are final and not subject to appeal." Wonder what O's going to announce in January? |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2012-11-23 08:11 |
| #3 Morsi's just playing "Who wants to be a new Khalif?". Problem is, Erdogan is playing too, and he has better toys. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2012-11-23 02:01 |
| #2 Sounds like Mr. Potato Head wants to be bought. Hey, it worked for the Iranians... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2012-11-23 01:15 |
| #1 Yokay, I'll bite, I thought the Bammer was "Pharoah"??? There can only be One. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-11-23 01:03 |