Morsi has become another Mubarak in Islamic garb. He thought he could fool people by assuming this limitless power and push through his Islamic constitution. Both acts are illegitimate and both should be annulled. This referendum coup should not stand, period!
-SD
"All great truths begin as blasphemies." GBS
From: SAHANNAN <sahannan@sonarbangladesh.com>
To: sahannan@yahoogroups.com; Criterion-The-Illuminator@yahoogroups.com; political_analysts@yahoogroups.com; dahuk@yahoogroups.com; inquisitive_sisters@yahoogroups.com; khabor@yahoogroups.com; mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, December 9, 2012 5:14 AM
Subject: [mukto-mona] Egypt President Annuls Decree - Africa - News - OnIslam.net
http://www.onislam.net/english/news/africa/460348-egypt-president-annuls-decree.html
Egypt President Annuls Decree
OnIslam & News Agencies
Sunday, 09 December 2012 00:00
The move was an apparent attempt to end a political crisis that has spilled into the streets.
CAIRO – Concluding an extensive national dialogue at Saturday midnight, Egyptian President Mo ham med Morsi annulled a decree he issued last month that sparked angry protests, adding that referendum on a draft constitution would still go ahead as planned.
"The constitutional decree is annulled from this moment," said Mo ham ed Selim al-Awa, an Islamist politician acting as a spokesman for a meeting President Morsi held with political and public figures, BBC reported on Sunday, December 9.
The move was an apparent attempt to end a political crisis that has spilled into the streets, pitting the president ' s supporters and opponents against one another.
The cancellation of the decree, which put Morsy ' s decisions above judicial oversight, was not retroactive, meaning any decisions he made since its announcement still stand.
Those decisions, which include the approval of the draft constitution and removal of old attorney general, cannot be challenged by the courts.
El-Awa told the news conference in Cairo that a referendum on a draft constitution would still go ahead as planned on 15 December, as the 15 day time span could not be ammended due to the 19 March 2011 referendum.
He added that a new drafting panel will be formed and a new constitution written with six months, if voters reject the current draft at the December 15 polls.
The announcement that Morsi had scrapped his November 22 decree followed hours of talks on Saturday at his presidential palace, billed as a "national dialogue".
The dialogue was boycotted by his main opponents and had little credibility among protesters.
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.
Violence has engulfed Egypt since President Morsi issue a decree granting himself sweeping powers.
Opponents accuse the Islamist leader of seeking to create a new autocracy by awarding himself extraordinary powers and were further angered when an Islamist-dominated assembly pushed through a draft constitution that opponents said did not properly represent the aspirations of the whole nation.
The president has defended his decree as necessary to prevent courts still full of judges appointed by deposed autocrat Hosni Mubarak from derailing a constitution vital for Egypt ' s political transition.
Farce!
As the position of the umbrella opposition National Salvation Front remained vague, liberal figures attacked the new declaration as a farce.
"My first personal impression is that it is a limited and insufficient step," Hussein Abdel Ghani, the spokesman for the National Salvation Front, told Reuters.
"We repeatedly said that among our top demands is for the referendum to be delayed."
Abdel Ghani added that his group would meet on Sunday to discuss a response to Morsi ' s initiative to cancel his old decree.
The April 6 movement also rejected the outcome of Saturday ' s talks.
"What happened is manipulation and a continuation of deception in the name of law and legitimacy," the group said.
"This is a farce," Ahmed Selim, a member of the opposition April 6 youth movement, told CNN.
He also vowed to "take to the streets nationwide to continue to protest this dictator and his stubbornness."
"We are not fools and this new decree serves no one but his followers," Selim said.
In contrast, Ayman Nour, a liberal opposition leader who attended the meeting at the palace, described the cancellation of the decree as a positive step.
"(It) has opened the door to a possible solution to a national crisis and may calm the situation down," he
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