CAIRO — Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's decree that put his decisions above legal challenge until a new parliament was elected caused fury amongst his opponents Friday who accused him of being the new Hosni Mubarak and hijacking the revolution. Police fired tear gas in a street leading to Cairo's Tahrir Square, heart of the 2011 anti-Mubarak uprising, where thousands demanded Morsi quit and accused him of launching a “coup”. There were violent protests in Alexandria, Port Said and Suez. “The people want to bring down the regime,” shouted protesters in Tahrir, echoing a chant used in the uprising that forced Mubarak to step down. “Get out, Morsi,” they chanted. Morsi's aides said the presidential decree was to speed up a protracted transition that has been hindered by legal obstacles but his rivals were quick to condemn him as a new autocratic pharaoh who wanted to impose his Islamist vision on Egypt. “I am for all Egyptians. I will not be biased against any son of Egypt,” Morsi said on a stage outside the presidential palace, adding that he was working for social and economic stability and the rotation of power. “Opposition in Egypt does not worry me, but it has to be real and strong,” he said, seeking to placate his critics and telling Egyptians not to worry and that he was committed to the revolution. “Go forward, always forward ... to a new Egypt.” Buoyed by accolades from around the world for mediating a truce between Hamas and Israel, Morsi on Thursday ordered that an Islamist-dominated assembly writing the new constitution could not be dissolved by legal challenges. “Morsi a ‘temporary' dictator,” was the headline in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm. Morsi, an Islamist whose roots are in the Muslim Brotherhood, also gave himself sweeping powers that allowed him to sack the unpopular general prosecutor and opened the door for a retrial for Mubarak and his aides. The new decree aimed to end the logjam and push Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation, more quickly on its democratic path, the presidential spokesman said. “President Morsi said we must go out of the bottleneck without breaking the bottle,” Yasser Ali said. Morsi decree said any decrees he issued while no parliament sat could not be challenged, moves that consolidated his power but look set to polarize Egypt further, threatening more turbulence in a nation at the heart of the Arab Spring. The turmoil has weighed heavily on Egypt's faltering economy that was thrown a lifeline this week when a preliminary deal was reached with the International Monetary Fund for a $4.8 billion loan. But it also means unpopular economic measures. In Alexandria, north of Cairo, protesters ransacked an office of the Brotherhood's political party, burning books and chairs in the street. Supporters of Morsi and opponents clashed elsewhere in the city, leaving 12 injured. A party building was also attacked by stone-throwing protesters in Port Said, and demonstrators in Suez threw petrol bombs that burned banners outside the party building. Leaders of different political hues stood divided over the new developments. Ahmad Maher, founder of April 6 Youths Movement, said many of Morsi decisions were long over-due . In particular, he praised the sacking of the prosecutor general Dr. Issam Al-Oryan, a leading figure in the Muslim Brotherhood, said on his FaceBook page that history will recall that Allah saved the January revolution and its loyal men. “These men are loyal to the revolution and to the Egyptian people and they fought for an end to dictatorship, injustice, corruption, hypocrisy, and deception.” However, political activist Mamdouh Hamza described Morsi's decrees as discriminating between the citizens of the country. This might lead to a civil war. It is important that all parties realize the gravity of the citation, he said. “If you want to safeguard your freedom, you should stay in the squares until Morsi backtracks,” Hamza tweeted. “The decree is basically a coup on state institutions and the rule of law that is likely to undermine the revolution and the transition to democracy,” said Mervat Ahmed, an independent activist in Tahrir protesting against the decree. “I worry Morsi will be another dictator like the one before him.” Liberal politician Mohamed ElBaradei, who joined other politicians to demand the decree was withdrawn, wrote on his Twitter account that Morsi had “usurped all state powers and appointed himself Egypt's new pharaoh”. Analyst Seif El Din Abdel Fatah said the decree targeted the judiciary which he said had reversed, for example, an earlier Morsi decision to remove the prosecutor. Morsi's new decree protects him from such judicial reversals. — With input from agencies
