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Egypt’s Opposition Vows More Protests Despite Morsi’s Concessions: ‘We Are Against This…From Start to Finish’

Dec. 9, 2012 5:49pm Erica Ritz

Egypts Opposition Vows More Protests Against Islamist Morsi Despite Concessions

Protesters chant slogans during a demonstration in front of the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012. (Photo: AP)

(TheBlaze/AP) — President Mohammed Morsi is unlikely to worry if Egypt’s Islamist-leaning draft constitution passes by only a small margin in a Dec. 15 referendum, since he and his backers tout his 51 percent election victory in June as a “popular mandate” that is beyond any challenge.

But Egypt’s opposition said Sunday it will keep up the protests, stopping short of advocating either a boycott or a “no” vote less than a week before the ballot.

The proposed constitution is at the heart of the nation’s worst political crisis since the overthrow nearly two years ago of authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak. The charter has divided Egypt, with Morsi and his Islamist backers, including ultraconservative Salafis, in one camp, and secularists and leftists, including minority Christians and women, in the other.

“This is a constitution that will not contribute to stability,” prominent rights lawyer Negad Boari argued. “The president wants the referendum, regardless of the cost. They are creating a religious state that they had long dreamt of and waited for. It is now within reach.”

In a sign of how jittery the government is about holding the referendum, Morsi has ordered the military to maintain security and protect state institutions until the results are announced. The military is to coordinate with the police on maintaining security, and would also be entitled to arrest civilians.

Soldiers stand guard on top a tank in front of the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012. (Photo: AP)

Morsi insists on holding the referendum on schedule, but as a concession to his opponents he rescinded recent edicts granting himself almost unrestricted powers on Saturday.

Rushing the approval of the constitution in a late night session in the panel further inflamed those who claim Morsi and his Islamist allies are monopolizing power and trying to force their radical agenda into practice.

The New York Times relates:

“We are against this process from start to finish,” a spokesman of the National Salvation Front, Hussein Abdel Ghani, said Sunday, according to Reuters. He called for more street protests on Tuesday.

“We have broken the barrier of fear: a constitution that aborts our rights and freedoms is one that we will bring down today before tomorrow,” Mohamed ElBaradei, the former diplomat now acting as coordinator of the secular opposition, wrote on Twitter early Sunday. “Our power is in our will.”

The opposition sent hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets, in unprecedented mass rallies for the largely secular groups since they led the popular uprising last year that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

This prompted counter-protests by Morsi supporters, and sparked bouts of street battles that left at least six people dead and hundreds wounded.

Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi shout slogans as they hold banners bearing his portrait and reading in Arabic: ‘support the decisions of the President’ during a demonstration outside a mosque in Cairo on December 9, 2012. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Several offices of the Muslim Brotherhood also have been ransacked or torched in the unrest.

The National Salvation Front, an umbrella opposition group of liberal and leftist parties, said at a news conference Sunday that holding the referendum in such an atmosphere would lead to more strife. It called for another mass demonstration on Tuesday.

The front said Morsi and the regime are “gambling by driving the country toward more violent clashes that are dangerous for its national security.”

In a sign of the continued tension, Misr 25 TV, affiliated with the Brotherhood, announced that an alliance of Islamist groups will hold rival rallies on Tuesday in support of “legitimacy.”

Senior Brotherhood leaders accuse the opposition of seeking to topple Morsi and undermine his legitimacy.

The draft charter was adopted despite a last minute walkout by liberal and Christian members of the Constituent Assembly. The document would open the door to Egypt’s most extensive implementation of Islamic law, enshrining a say for Muslim clerics in legislation, making civil rights subordinate to Shariah and broadly allowing the state to protect “ethics and morals.”

Egyptian army soldiers stand guard in front of the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012. (Photo: AP)

It fails to outlaw gender discrimination and mainly refers to women in relation to home and family. The charter also has restrictive clauses on freedom of expression.

One article, specifically, underlined that the state will protect “the true nature of the Egyptian family … and promote its morals and values” – phrasing that suggests the state could intervene to prevent anything deemed a “threat” to families.

And the Islamists are reportedly using their time-honored tactic of employing religion to influence the vote. That tactic was widely used in a March 2011 referendum on a constitutional declaration that the Islamists supported and again in the election for both chambers of parliament.

They say a “yes” vote is one for God, Islam and the faithful. A “no” vote is portrayed as being against them.

In a new decree, if the constitution is rejected, Morsi would call for new elections to select 100-member panel to write a new charter within three months. The new panel would then have up to six months to complete its task, and the president would call for a new referendum with a month.

The process would add about 10 more months to Egypt’s raucous transition, but could answer some of the opposition demands of a more representative panel to write the charter, if the elections are not swept by Islamists.

The opposition has held a sit-in outside the presidential palace since Friday. A rally of a few thousand marched to join them Sunday.

In a nearby area, several hundred Morsi supporters held a rival rally, lining the street and chanting to traffic: “Islamic Islamic,” saying that voting day “will bring stability.”

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Comments (22)

wordsofwisdom
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 12:43am
This is the guy Obama supports do I need to say more? Obama is just like him seeking unlimited power to establish a communist Muslim state. He hates America and our values. If it were not true he would condemn such people as Morsi & the Muslim brotherhood. But no, he enables them. This is treason and should be a reason to impeach him but our R.I.N.O.’s will not stop him. We are in the end of days plain & simple as this song says “The End Times” http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_10381143
are here. Better buckle up for safety!

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Puddle Duck
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 11:31pm
As soon as the sham vote on the new constitution is rammed through (with massive voter fraud no doubt) the the real MB and it’s true nature will reveal itself to the world…….it’ll be ugly. N Africa’s fate was sealed when the Regime in DC gave the MB the green light in 2009. Jordan and Syria will be next dominos to fall in this dangerous game.

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thegreatcarnac
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 10:59pm
Good for the Egyptian. Obama’s man Morsi is made of the same stuff obama is. He wants to be “pharaoh” (dictator) of Egypt and the Kenyan wants to be dictator of the US. The Egyptians want none of it and they are in the streets……where WE SHOULD BE. WE need to surround Washington and demand a return to the constitution and the arrest of obama.

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eddie333
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 8:18pm
Now THIS looks more like an “Arab Spring”

And they are doing it without guns…

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- BSdetector
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 7:18am
  Careful, Morsi is an evil S.O.B. but so is his “opposition.”
  “The National Salvation Front, an umbrella opposition group of liberal and leftist parties, said at a news conference Sunday…” “It called for another mass demonstration on Tuesday.”
  
  The longer they fight amongst themselves the better for freedom everywhere, regardless of which evil comes out on top.
  
  Report this comment
songbird7
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 7:01pm
here are the best friends of the NWO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=H-6O-gApVrU

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IndianaUSA
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 7:01pm
A “real” Arab spring is taking place. These people are standing for true freedom. Dumbo and Hilary are probably not happy that their self installed Muslim Brotherhood govt. is having problems.

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- stopprintn
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 8:46pm
  Freedom & Islam are polar opposite, they can not coincide.
  
  Report this comment
- ConservaTEA
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 11:42pm
  . . .And Obama will again be silent. Just like when they the Iranians had a true democratic uprising right after he came into office in 2009, Obama said nothing. . . did nothing. . .and voted “present”.
  
  How many missed opportunities will happen in the middle east before we have our own uprising????
  
  Report this comment
vox_populi
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 6:35pm
Democracy is a messy process, but I’m glad to see the Egyptian people resolute in refusing to fall into the same trap that Mubarak once laid.

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SaturdaysWarrior76
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 6:26pm
These people are an inspiration! God be with them as they fight for what is right! Brave souls they are!

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- WaterTheTree
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 8:00pm
  Do you think protests would have any chance of changing the minds of the US power-grabbers?
  
  Report this comment
heavyduty
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 6:25pm
Muslims what they can’t screw up they crap on. But I like them fighting each other. Keeps them busy from fighting us.

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- eddie333
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 8:29pm
  Our govt does that to us. Tension between rich and poor, black and white, producers and moochers, the “war on women”, etc. Keeping us fighting each other keeps us from standing up to the govt in a united front.
  
  Report this comment
stopprintn
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 6:18pm
If they realy need a diferent leader we have a Islamo-faciast **** kissing commie girly-man that I would like to nominate.

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progressiveslayer
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 6:16pm
Ah yes the Arab spring spreading peace and joy throughout the region.Barry deposed one dictator in favor of another to do his bidding and make the MB the dominant force throughout the middle east. We have to recognize the Arab spring for what it is,a power grab by the Islamists encouraged by their friend in the oval office,the ‘ONE’ who cares so much about spreading the tyranny of a ‘democracy’ that he’ll overthrow governments Mubarak and kill their presidents ie Gadaffi.

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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 6:16pm
Good for them and may we soon see the downfall of our own dictator in the making Obama and the Democratic Brotherhood.

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SCREW-WINDOWS
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 6:14pm
What’s that commercial “You Ask For It You Got It”.

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OlefromMN
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 6:11pm
I will say that it is refreshing to see(hear about) people with some very large cajones. There are some left on this planet that desire/yearn/act for God’s given freedoms. May God have their side and walk with them through this. We all know Obama’s USA will not pick the right side to defend.

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johnpaulkuchtajr
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 5:58pm
OK, all you red-blooded American taxpayers, all together now:

“Two, four, six, eight, who is it we love to hate? The Muslim Brotherhood!”

Sending billions of tax money that we haven’t even earned yet to a bunch of turds who want to slit our throats and burn us in our beds.

You couldn’t make this stuff up if I paid you to do it.

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- gyro
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 6:09pm
  relax some are nice !! — 3
  
  Report this comment
- johnpaulkuchtajr
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 6:32pm
  Hey Gyro,
  
  Nice Muslims? Absolutely!
  
  Nice Muslim Brotherhood? Never!
  
  You should take a peek at http://www.muslimbrotherhoodinamerica.com when you get a chance.
  
  “Remember Benghazi”
  
  Report this comment

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