Editorial
Egypt's army, judges in league!
President Morsi must not be undermined
The crisis in Egypt only gets more and more complicated. It is clear by now that the ruling military council and the judiciary, unhappy at the election of Mohammad Morsi to the country's presidency, are looking for ways and means of undermining the president in the exercise of his responsibilities. For his part, Morsi has surely done a most commendable thing by calling parliament, which the court has described as illegal and therefore not qualified to be in existence, into session. The session was brief, but it underscored the very important point that Egypt's first elected president is determined to show the military and the judges who is master.
The judiciary has predictably hit back by condemning President Morsi's act of recalling parliament. The basis of its response is that the president has defied the court and is, therefore, in contempt of the law. The irony here, though, is that Egypt's judges as well as its senior military officers all happen to be Hosni Mubarak appointees. And there lies the reason behind their moves against the new leader in recent days. The disbanding of the new parliament, in which the long-suffering Muslim Brotherhood has a thin majority obtained through direct elections, by the court was a highly inflammatory act. It has exposed Egypt's judges as political partisans determined to take the wind out of Morsi's sails. For its part, the Egyptian army, not used to performing under civilian presidents, has palpably been in league with the judges, the better to scuttle the country's first experiment with democracy. President Morsi will, therefore, need to watch out.
And so will Egypt's people across the spectrum. The fact that hundreds of people have gathered at Tahrir Square to demonstrate their support for the president is significant. It is a broad hint for the entrenched elements of the old order to give way to the new. For Morsi, there is a historical need to display the leadership skills that will neutralize the military and the judiciary, both of which are today aligned in sinister manner to undercut the elected president. Morsi has a popular base and the international community's support. He must use these two factors in shrewd manner.
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