President Mohamed Morsi has annulled a decree he issued last month that hugely expanded his powers and sparked angry protests in Egypt, officials say.
However, a news conference in Cairo was told that a controversial referendum on a draft constitution would still go ahead as planned on December 15th.
Mohamed Morsi’s critics have accused him of acting like a dictator, but he says he is safeguarding the revolution.
He said the extra powers were needed to force through reforms.
Mohamed Morsi’s decree of November 22nd stripped the judiciary of any right to challenge his decisions and triggered violent protests on the streets of Cairo.
“The constitutional decree is annulled from this moment,” said Selim al-Awa, an Islamist politician acting as a spokesman for a meeting Mohamed Morsi held with political and public figures on Saturday.
But he said the referendum on a new constitution would go ahead because it was not legally possible for the president to postpone it.
The meeting had been boycotted by the main opposition leaders who had earlier called for their supporters to step up their protests. They want both the decree and the referendum cancelled.
President Mohamed Morsi has made a major compromise but it is yet to be seen if it will defuse tension on the streets.
President Mohamed Morsi has annulled a decree he issued last month that hugely expanded his powers and sparked angry protests in Egypt
Although the decree has been annulled, some decisions taken under it still stand.
The general prosecutor, who was dismissed, will not be reinstated, and the retrial of the former regime officials will go ahead.
But President Mohamed Morsi’s sweeping powers have gone.
Earlier, Egypt’s powerful military warned it would not allow Egypt to spiral out of control and called for talks to resolve the conflict.
“Anything other than that [dialogue] will force us into a dark tunnel with disastrous consequences; something that we won’t allow,” it said.
The president’s supporters say the judiciary is made up of reactionary figures from the old regime of strongman Hosni Mubarak.
But his opponents have mounted almost continuous protests since the decree was passed.
They are also furious over the drafting of the new constitution because they see the process as being dominated by Mohamed Morsi’s Islamist allies.
An umbrella opposition group, the National Salvation Group, has demanded Mohamed Morsi rescind his decree and postpone a referendum on the new constitution.
Several people have been killed in the recent spate of anti-government protests, and the presidential palace has come under attack.
The Cairo headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement to which Mohamed Morsi belongs, were set on fire.
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Egypt’s Judges’ Club has refused to oversee a referendum on the country’s new draft constitution, to be held in two weeks.
The Judges’ Club’s decision follows a confrontation between Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court and Islamist supporters of President Mohammed Morsi.
The court said it was suspending its work after its members were prevented from ruling on the legitimacy of the body that drew up the constitution.
Opposition groups called for protests against the referendum on Tuesday.
They said Mohammed Morsi had broken a promise not to call a referendum without gaining a wide national consensus.
“The National Salvation Front condemns the irresponsible act by the president of the republic in calling a referendum on an illegitimate constitution that is rejected by a large section of his people,” an alliance of opposition groups said in a statement.
The opposition believes that the draft constitution undermines basic freedoms.
The latest developments heighten the tensions between President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood supporters on one side, and his mainly secular political opponents and the judiciary on the other.
Hours after the Supreme Constitutional Court suspended its work, the Judges’ Club, the union which represents the profession nationwide, said it had turned down the judges’ traditional role of electoral oversight for the referendum.
“We have decided to boycott the supervision of the referendum on the constitution scheduled for December 15, 2012,” the club’s head Ahmed al-Zind announced.
“This protest is in response to what is being called the ‘constitutional decree’ and until this decree is rescinded.”
Correspondents say the club’s decisions are not binding on members, and Vice-President Mahmoud Mekky said he was confident judges would do their job.
The Supreme Constitutional Court had earlier described Sunday as “the blackest day in the history of Egyptian judiciary” after its judges were prevented from attending a meeting by Islamist protesters.
The court had been scheduled to rule on whether to dissolve both the constituent assembly that passed the draft constitution and the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament, the Shura Council.
Supporters of President Mohammed Morsi wanted to block any ruling that would question the document’s legality.
Mohammed Morsi adopted sweeping new powers in a decree on November 22nd that stripped the judiciary of any power to challenge his decisions, so it is unclear what effect any Supreme Constitutional Court ruling would have had.
However, analysts say any ruling opposing his decisions would be a direct challenge and would bolster the opposition campaign to have his decree annulled.
The president’s supporters are wary of the court, as it dissolved an Islamist-dominated lower house of parliament in an earlier confrontation in June.
The draft constitution was rushed through the constituent assembly on Thursday night.
After receiving a copy of the document on Saturday, Mohammed Morsi called on “all Egyptians” to take part in the referendum, whether or not they agreed with the draft.
The draft constitution and the recent decree have prompted widespread protests by opponents.
Many anti-government activists remain camped out in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
If approved, the new text will overwrite all constitutional declarations – including Mohammed Morsi’s decree – and a new parliament should be elected within 60 days.
Among the historic changes to Egypt’s system of government, the draft limits a president to two four-year terms. It also introduces some civilian oversight of the military.
The draft keeps in place an article defining “principles of Sharia”, or Islamic law, as the main source of legislation.
Mohammed Morsi’s supporters point to the fact that he is Egypt’s first freely elected president and argue that liberals and secularists do not represent the vast majority of Egyptians.
But the extent of Mohammed Morsi’s new powers has raised fears that he might become a new dictator.
The Judges’ Club’s decision follows a confrontation between Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court and Islamist supporters of President Mohammed Morsi.
The court said it was suspending its work after its members were prevented from ruling on the legitimacy of the body that drew up the constitution.
Opposition groups called for protests against the referendum on Tuesday.
They said Mohammed Morsi had broken a promise not to call a referendum without gaining a wide national consensus.
“The National Salvation Front condemns the irresponsible act by the president of the republic in calling a referendum on an illegitimate constitution that is rejected by a large section of his people,” an alliance of opposition groups said in a statement.
The opposition believes that the draft constitution undermines basic freedoms.
The latest developments heighten the tensions between President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood supporters on one side, and his mainly secular political opponents and the judiciary on the other.
Hours after the Supreme Constitutional Court suspended its work, the Judges’ Club, the union which represents the profession nationwide, said it had turned down the judges’ traditional role of electoral oversight for the referendum.
“We have decided to boycott the supervision of the referendum on the constitution scheduled for December 15, 2012,” the club’s head Ahmed al-Zind announced.
“This protest is in response to what is being called the ‘constitutional decree’ and until this decree is rescinded.”
Correspondents say the club’s decisions are not binding on members, and Vice-President Mahmoud Mekky said he was confident judges would do their job.
The Supreme Constitutional Court had earlier described Sunday as “the blackest day in the history of Egyptian judiciary” after its judges were prevented from attending a meeting by Islamist protesters.
The court had been scheduled to rule on whether to dissolve both the constituent assembly that passed the draft constitution and the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament, the Shura Council.
Supporters of President Mohammed Morsi wanted to block any ruling that would question the document’s legality.
Mohammed Morsi adopted sweeping new powers in a decree on November 22nd that stripped the judiciary of any power to challenge his decisions, so it is unclear what effect any Supreme Constitutional Court ruling would have had.
However, analysts say any ruling opposing his decisions would be a direct challenge and would bolster the opposition campaign to have his decree annulled.
The president’s supporters are wary of the court, as it dissolved an Islamist-dominated lower house of parliament in an earlier confrontation in June.
The draft constitution was rushed through the constituent assembly on Thursday night.
After receiving a copy of the document on Saturday, Mohammed Morsi called on “all Egyptians” to take part in the referendum, whether or not they agreed with the draft.
The draft constitution and the recent decree have prompted widespread protests by opponents.
Many anti-government activists remain camped out in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
If approved, the new text will overwrite all constitutional declarations – including Mohammed Morsi’s decree – and a new parliament should be elected within 60 days.
Among the historic changes to Egypt’s system of government, the draft limits a president to two four-year terms. It also introduces some civilian oversight of the military.
The draft keeps in place an article defining “principles of Sharia”, or Islamic law, as the main source of legislation.
Mohammed Morsi’s supporters point to the fact that he is Egypt’s first freely elected president and argue that liberals and secularists do not represent the vast majority of Egyptians.
But the extent of Mohammed Morsi’s new powers has raised fears that he might become a new dictator.
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