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Morsi's 'coup'
[Dawn] BUOYED up by his success in effecting a ceasefire in Gazoo, President Mohamed Morsi has acted the wrong way -- he has given himself sweeping powers in a move that the opposition calls "a coup against legitimacy". The new decree issued on Thursday says decisions taken by the president cannot be overturned by any authority, including the courts. This negates the very spirit of the Arab Spring. Already, the president had enormous powers, because there is no legislature and he himself makes the laws. By pre-empting a judicial review of his actions, the president has armed himself with absolute powers. No wonder opposition leaders, who include such names as former Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
secretary general Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa
... who was head of the Arab League for approximately two normal lifespans, accomplishing nothing that was obvious to the casual observer ...
and Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei
Egyptian law scholar and Iranian catspaw. He was head of the IAEA from December 1997 to November 2009. At some point during his tenure he was purchased by the Iranians. ElBaradei and the IAEA were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for something in 2005. After stepping down from his IAEA position ElBaradei attempted to horn in on the 2011 Egyptian protests which culminated in the collapse of the Mubarak regime. ElBaradei served on the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group, a lefty NGO that is bankrolled by the Carnegie Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as George Soros' Open Society Institute. Soros himself serves as a member of the organization's Executive Committee.
, allege that the president has anointed himself "Egypt's new pharaoh". More menacingly, there is a hint of witch-hunting in his moves, because he has decided to reopen Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
's trial and sacked chief prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, a Mubarak loyalist. The charge against him was that he failed to secure adequate punishments for pro-Mubarak demonstrators who had attacked the security forces. He had earlier withdrawn his decision to fire Mr Mahmoud under pressure from Egypt's
powerful legal fraternity.

An acute and dangerous polarisation could grip Egypt, because Moslem Brüderbund activists have demonstrated in the decree's favour, while the opposition has begun street protests and attacked Moslem Brüderbund offices. On Thursday, shortly after the decree was announced, Moslem Brüderbund activists staged demonstrations in front of the main court building, demanding that the judiciary be "purified". This is a disturbing development. Unless such demands for purges are discouraged in time, the country could head towards authoritarianism. At present, Egypt has no parliament, and a Brotherhood-dominated assembly is still drafting a new constitution. The absence of any constitutional and legal checks on a head of state who already wields executive and legislative powers could throttle democracy, strengthen totalitarian tendencies and dash the populist hopes for which the people of Egypt had launched a valiant struggle against a despotic regime. As an opposition leader said, the anti Mubarak stir was not launched "in search of a benign dictator".

Posted by: Fred 2012-11-25
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=356790