Egypt Political Developments - 2012
In June 2011 Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood joined with 17 Egyptian political parties to establish what they call a pro-democracy platform for parliamentary elections then scheduled for September 2011. The coalition pledged to push for equality and democratic freedoms. The Muslim Brotherhood is one of Egypt's most organized political movements and was banned under the former regime of ex-President Hosni Mubarak.
According to the decree-law issued by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces [SCAF] candidates were running for 498 seats in the People’s Assembly elections in 46 party list constituencies and 83 single non-transferable vote constituencies. The first round of elections was held on Monday November 28, 2011 in: Cairo, Fayyoum, Port Said, Damietta, Alexandria, Kafr al-Sheikh, Asyut, Luxor, and the Red Sea governorates. The second round was held on Wednesday December 14, 2011 in: Giza, Beni Sweif, Menufiya, Sharkiya, Ismailiya, Suez, Behira, Sohag and Aswan governorates. The third round takes place on Tuesday January 3, 2012 in: Menya, Kalyubiya, Gharbiya, Dakahliya, N. Sinai, S. Sinai, Matrouh, Qena, al-Wadi al-Gadeed. The final results would be announced no later than January 13, 2012 and the new Assembly was to be called to convene on Saturday March 17, 2012.
The outcome of this process was viewed as suspect by some, given the growing unrest and the suspension of many candidates' campaigns in solidarity with the protesters. The head of the ruling military council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi said Sunday 26 November 2011 the that country was at a crossroads and can choose either successful elections “leading Egypt towards safety” or face dangerous hurdles that the armed forces “will not allow.” He also warned of “extremely grave” consequences if the country's current political turmoil does not end quickly.
Tantawi's warning came as thousands of demonstrators filled Cairo's Tahrir Square for another massive protest demanding that Egypt's military immediately cede power to a “national salvation government” that would run the country until a president was elected. Security forces fired tear gas at stone-throwing demonstrators.
The newly elected lower house of parliament convened 23 January 2012. The complex, staggered polls to elect parliament's lower house began Monday 27 November 2011 and concluded in early January 2012. The election process for the lower house took place in three stages in different administrative districts in December 2011 and January 2012. Each district had two days of voting. The Muslim Brotherhood was the largest group in parliament with an estimated 47 percent of the votes and 235 seats, while the Salafist Nour Party won 125 seats. Other parties gained 148 seats. Elections for the upper house were to end in March 2012, after which the newly elected assembly was to write a new constitution. The ruling military council has said a presidential election will be held before July 2012. The voting was to pave the way for Egypt's transfer to civilian rule. Presidential elections took place in June 2012.
Just after the polls closed on 17 June 2012, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces [SCAF] issued a constitutional declaration, granting itself legislative powers, control of the economy and the right to pick who will draft the next constitution. The declaration appeared to set out a timeframe for writing the new constitution and holding new elections for parliament - raising the possibility that Egypt's state of uncertainty, already 16 months old, would continue until the end of 2012. The move came just two weeks before a deadline the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces had set to hand over running the country to a civilian leadership.
According to the Complementary Constitutional Declaration, SCAF shall exercise the legislative powers under article 56 until a new parliament is elected. SCAF shall also form a new constitution-drafting panel within a week to draft a new constitution within three months if a reason bars the current assembly from fulfilling its task. Under the declaration, the new constitution shall be put to referendum within 15 days from being drafted and new parliamentary elections shall be called within a month from the approval of the new national charter.
The moves sparked outrage among some of those who helped topple the Mubarak government, and who alleged the military was implementing a “soft coup.” The potential for a show-down between Egypt's two major political forces - the military and the Muslim Brotherhood, raised concerns about a repetition of the Algerian civil conflict in the 1990s. After an Islamist victory at the polls was canceled, tens of thousands were killed in a protracted guerilla war. Others believe that the military, seen by many Egyptians as a guarantor of stability, would not engage in an armed conflict with its citizens.
Two controversial rulings by Egypt’s High Court threatened to throw the country back into violent chaos, according to experts watching the events. The Supreme Constitutional Court effectively dissolved parliament, declaring that a third of the legislators were elected unconstitutionally. The Islamist-dominated lower parliament dissolved by court order Thursday 14 June 2012. A Supreme Constitutional Court ruling that declared the law governing November’s parliamentary elections unconstitutional prompted the SCAF to dissolve the Islamist-dominated parliament and the Constituent Assembly. The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) stood to lose the most from the body’s dissolution.
After the ruling, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces assumed legislative powers, just two days after it gave the military the right to arrest civilians, reviving memories of the Mubarak government’s emergency law. The Supreme Constitutional Court is not neutral - it is very much part of the so-called old regime. Two days later Mohamed Hussein, a representative from the MB’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), rejected the court’s ruling. “[The] SCAF is but one of the authorities ruling the country. The people are the ones that have the legitimacy,” Hussein said. He asserted that the Brotherhood would try to use the presidency to undercut the SCAF’s power, so as to protect Egypt’s revolution.
On 24 June 2012 Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi was declared the winner of Egypt's presidential run-off. Egypt's election commission announced Sunday that Morsi won nearly 52 percent of the vote, beating former prime minister and Mubarak-era official Ahmed Shafiq. Morsi will become Egypt's first freely elected president. At his first meeting with Field Marsha Mohamed Hussein Tantawi on Tuesday 26 June 2012, the Head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces following his election as President of the Republic, President-elect Dr. Mohamed Morsi expressed his appreciation of the role of the Armed Forces in running the voting process in full transparency. During his visit to the headquarters of the Defense Ministry, President elect Morsi expressed his appreciation for the SCAF in running the state affairs during transitional period saying the Armed Forces have protected Egypt against many risks and respected the popular will of the great Egyptian people.
On 12 August 2012 President Morsi forced out the country's top two military officers, announcing the immediate retirement of Defense Minister Mohammed Hussein Tantawi and Army Chief of Staff Sami Annan. The move comes after growing tensions over military operations in the northern Sinai, following a recent attack by militants that killed 17 Egyptian soldiers. Field Marshall Tantawi and top generals of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces had given themselves powers before the presidential election that some analysts compared to a “check-and-balance” system. The unexpected moves by the president came as tensions mounted between him and top officers of the armed forces council.
Morsi was slow to criticize protesters angry at an anti-Muslim film produced in the United States who scaled the walls of the US embassy in Cairo, tore up an American flag and replaced it with an Islamic banner. President Barack Obama said after the protests that the United States considered Egypt to be neither an ally nor an enemy.
On October 08, 2012 President Morsi issued a decree granting a pardon to Egyptians who were detained or convicted for acts linked to the 2011 revolution that ousted his longtime predecessor, Hosni Mubarak. The pardon covered crimes "committed with the aim of supporting the revolution" from January 25, 2011, when the uprising began, to June 30, 2012, when he took office. Youth groups that led the Egyptian revolution have long demanded that authorities drop charges against and release thousands of fellow activists detained in Mubarak's crackdown on the uprising and in the 18 months of military rule that followed.
Supporters of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi scuffled with opponents in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday 12 October 201 in the worst violence since Egypt's new Islamist leader took office. Liberal and leftist groups had called Friday's protest to demand more action from Morsi after his first 100 days in office. The demonstration fell far short of the 'Million Man March' that organizers had been calling for. The street demonstrations came amid a political tug-of-war between the president and opposition parties over a decision by Morsi to remove Prosecutor General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud. The removal followed a court acquittal of loyalists of ousted President Hosni Mubarak accused of organizing a brutal attack on protesters last year. Mahmoud was appointed by Mubarak. On the streets Friday, pro-Morsi supporters chanted that the "people want to cleanse the judiciary," while opponents shouted that the "people want to topple the president."
On 22 November 2012 Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi issued a decree - the Revolution Protection Law - granting himself far-reaching powers and ordering retrials of former officials who tried to violently suppress last year's popular revolution against longtime president Hosni Mubarak. Even before the announcement, Islamists demonstrated in support of the president outside the Supreme Court, calling for the judiciary to be cleansed of officials linked to Mubarak. Morsi declared that his decisions cannot be appealed by the courts or any other authority, putting himself beyond judicial oversight. The decree is to remain in force at least until a new constitution is adopted in a referendum and a new parliament is elected. Mubarak-era officials will face retrials for alleged involvement in the killings of protesters during the 2011 uprising, a move that could lead to a retrial of Mubarak himself. The ousted leader was sentenced to life in prison in June for failing to stop the killings. But, he avoided convictions on more serious offenses of corruption and ordering the deadly crackdown, angering many Egyptians.
The presidential decree also barred Egypt's judiciary from dissolving the upper house of parliament and an assembly drafting a new constitution - two bodies dominated by Morsi's Islamist allies. Egyptian courts had been examining cases demanding the dissolution of both assemblies. Islamists were accused of trying to hijack the constitution drafting process, with the 100-member assembly including over 60 Islamists. Its bylaws require constitutional articles to gain the support of only 67 members to pass. Morsi extended the assembly drafting a new constitution by two months, which had previously planned to complete the constitution draft by a 19 November deadline. As of early July 2012 the Constituent Assembly had been aiming to have the first draft completed by the end of July and finalized for a popular referendum by the end of August 2012. It had yet to be determined whether President Mohamed Morsy would complete his four-year term, or if there will be new presidential elections after the new constitution is adopted.
Protesters in several Egyptian cities attacked the offices of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood, as rival pro and anti-government groups demonstrate in Cairo over a new presidential decree. Morsi said he wants to move Egypt forward as a stable and safe nation, and says he does not want sole control of the country. Opposition leader and Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradai said Morsi had declared himself a "new pharaoh" and “usurped all state powers” attended the Cairo protests. The liberal politician and former chief of the UN nuclear energy agency said Morsi has usurped all state powers and warned that there could be dire consequences.
The violence came a day after Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi put himself above oversight and declared that his decisions cannot be appealed by the courts or any other authority. Egyptian courts had been examining cases demanding the dissolution of both assemblies. But Morsi's decree effectively neutralizes the judiciary system in favor of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood. Mubarak-era officials and security personnel also have been acquitted on charges of killing protesters, prompting critics to accuse the top government prosecutor of mishandling the cases. Most police officers were found innocent due to insufficient evidence. In his decree, Morsi fired that prosecutor, Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud, a Mubarak appointee who had been in the post for many years. President Morsi had tried to fire Mahmoud in October 2012 but was blocked by the courts. Morsi named Talat Abdullah as the government's new general prosecutor. Egypt's president has the power to appoint the country's top judge, but not to fire him.
Morsi’s decree was issued days after he received international praise for helping mediate a cease-fire between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, prompting speculation that he felt more secure about withstanding domestic and international criticism of the move. With his mediation in the Israeli Gaza aerial conflict, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi faced a high profile test of his presidency. Egypt's first Islamist president had been carrying out a delicate balancing act, showing solidarity with the Muslim Brotherhood's religious and political offspring, the Hamas leaders of Gaza, while portraying himself as a reliable broker for Israel and the West. The world came to Cairo, with officials from the United Nations, United States and other nations supporting Egyptian mediation efforts in the Israel-Gaza crisis.
Egyptian protesters held firm to their rejection of the draft charter, keeping vigil outside the presidential palace in the capital. At rival rallies in Cairo, liberal, secular and Christian protesters continued to demand a delay in the voting so that a new, and what they call a "more representative"document could be formed. Inside the compound, where the perimeter was fortified by tanks, soldiers and concrete and metal barriers, the government vowed to press on with the vote. Egypt's judges are to oversee the vote. A referendum judiciary committee said the balloting would take place for two days - Saturday 15 December 2012 and the following Saturday 22 December 2012. But a leading judges' association said 90 percent of its members will not take part.
On Thursday 29 November 2012 the Constitutional Assembly voted to retain the principles of Islamic law as the main source of legislation, completing the approval process despite a deepening political crisis and an opposition boycott. The assembly voted on the constitution article by article. The conservative-dominated assembly abruptly moved up the vote in order to pass the draft before Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court [of hold-over Mubarak loyalists], the country’s highest judicial power, ruled Sunday 03 December 2012 on whether to dissolve the panel [for the second time]. In recent days, some 30 liberal and Christian members of the Assembly had pulled out of the 100-member panel in protest what they call the hijacking of the process by Islamists loyal to President Mohamed Morsi. The entire draft constitution is expected to be put to a public referendum as early as mid-December 2012.
The judiciary joined the growing opposition to the set of decrees by President Mohamed Morsi, which provoked public outrage. And judges in Alexandria announced they will go on strike to protest the decrees. Egypt's highest judicial body, the Supreme Judicial Council, condemned the decrees granting President Mohamed Morsi sweeping powers, branding them “an unprecedented attack” on the independence of the judiciary. Twenty six political parties and three former presidential candidates back a widespread protest movement in Cairo's Tahrir Square, where thousands of demonstrators massed. Opponents said Morsi's decrees were a cover-up for the Muslim Brotherhood taking over the country and creating a theocratic state.
On November 30, 2012 the Islamist-dominated constitutional assembly approved Egypt’s new draft constitution that must now be voted on in a nationwide referendum. The panel retained the principles of Islamic law as the main source of legislation. Protests against President Mohamed Morsi continued in Tahrir Square for an eighth straight day.
On 08 December 2012 President Morsi annulled the declaration he had issued giving him sweeping emergency powers. But a spokesman said the referendum on the draft constitution on December 15 would go ahead as planned. The National Salvation Front, Egypt’s largest alliance of opposition parties, called on 12 December 2012 for voters to reject the draft Constitution during the 15 December 2012 referendum. “The Front has decided to call on the Egyptian people to come to polling stations and vote ‘no,’” opposition leader Hamdeen Sabahi, who finished third in the June presidenial election, told a news conference in Cairo. The opposition also set conditions that would ensure the legitimacy of the referendum, including full judicial supervision of the process, tight security at polling stations and monitoring of the vote by local and international observers. Sabahi warned that if these conditions were not met the opposition would boycott the vote.
Egypt's High Electoral Commission announced the final results of the two-stage constitutional referendum 25 December 2012 after a 24-hour delay to examine charges of fraud. Electoral commission head Samir Abou al Ma'ati told a press conference that the new constitution won approval by close to two-thirds of those who voted. Some 63.8 percent of Egyptian voters approved the new constitution, and 36.2% opposed it. Less than a third of Egypt's 52 million eligible voters cast ballots in the two-stage referendum, causing some analysts to question the validity of the results.
A nationwide referendum on the new Constitution, approved by the constituent assembly in November 2012, concluded on Saturday 22 December 2012. Egyptians in 17 provinces went to the polls in the second and final round of the referendum over the country's controversial new constitution. Turnout appeared light in some places and heavy in others. Voting started on 15 December 2012 in Cairo, Alexandria, and eight other provinces, while the other half of the country voted a week later. Fifty-six-point-five percent of voters reportedly approved the constitution in the first round of the referendum. Egypt's main judicial organizations decided to boycott the vote, and the judge overseeing the referendum resigned this past week, claiming to be ill. Despite the boycott, however, over 7,200 judges agreed to supervise the vote. There were numerous irregularities reported in the first round of voting.
With the approval of the new constitution, Egypt's upper house of parliament was authorized to issue laws and tackle various problems, including the economy. Egyptians would return to the polls is 60 days, in late February 2013, to vote on a new parliament.
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