Egypt crisis: President Morsi annuls decree

BBC News online  8 December 2012

Protests have been continuous since the decree was issued

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has annulled a decree he issued last month that hugely expanded his powers and sparked angry protests, 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 15 December.

Mr 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.

Mr Morsi's decree of 22 November 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 Mr 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.

Egypt's mounting crisis

22 Nov: President Morsi issues decree assuming sweeping new powers, dismisses prosecutor-general
30 Nov: Islamist-dominated constituent assembly adopts controversial draft constitution
1 Dec: President Morsi sets 15 December as the date for a referendum on the draft constitution
2 Dec: Supreme Constitutional Court suspends work after being prevented by Morsi supporters from ruling on the legitimacy of the constituent assembly. Judges Club, representing judges across the country, announces it will not supervise referendum
5 Dec: Violent clashes outside presidential palace in Cairo
7 Dec: Protesters breach presidential palace cordon
8 Dec: President Morsi's decree annulled, but constitution referendum to go ahead

The BBC's Shaimaa Khalil in Cairo says President Morsi has made a major compromise but it is yet to be seen if it will defuse tension on the streets.

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 Mr Morsi's Islamist allies.

An umbrella opposition group, the National Salvation Group, has demanded Mr 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 Mr Morsi belongs, were set on fire.