This increases the pressure on Egyptian President Morsi:
Egypt’s army gave President Mohamed Mursi 48 hours to restore stability to a country crippled by a wave of violence, raising the specter of military intervention if the unrest continues.
The armed forces warned that the country was in a “dire” situation and that the demands of the people can’t be ignored, according to a statement on state-run television. Crowds in central Cairo later cheered as military helicopters dangled Egyptian flags beneath them and buzzed Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
Bloomberg
Egypt’s military on Monday said mass protests calling for the resignation of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi were an “unprecedented” expression of the will of the people and gave the government 48 hours to meet the opposition's demands.
In a statement read on state television just hours after the headquarters of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement were ransacked, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said if this did not happen the army would intervene.
The protesters' main demands are that Morsi announce early elections and step down, allowing a temporary government to take over.
"If the demands of the people are not realized within the defined period, it will be incumbent upon (the armed forces)... to announce a road map for the future,” the statement said. It was followed by patriotic music.
The road map would be created by the army, which would also oversee the plan's implementation, the statement said.
nbcnews
It is clear that the Muslim Brotherhood overreached with their Islamization-of-Egypt policies and refusal to share power. What still is very contested is the future of Egypt. There may be a military government leading to new elections.
Update I: Angry Marmot adds some perspective:
One quibble... (4+ / 0-)
Recommended by:Chi, mkor7, Athenian, TomP
Tom, the comment about "Islamization" in your final paragraph might be putting a bit of a Western gaze on the current demonstrations. While it's absolutely true that Mursi's and the Ikhwan's religious politics are a component of the opposition's criticisms, it's worth noting that those religious politics do not feature in the Tamarrud petition (the impetus for the current demonstrations). What's driving the current demos are the failures of Mursi and his administration to act on 1) welfare, 2) social justice and 3) patronage-networks.
Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time. (Terry Pratchett)
by angry marmot on Mon Jul 01, 2013 at 01:01:53 PM CDT
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