Egypt's Morsi Rescinds Power Decree, But Opposition Calls It a 'Stunt'

Religion Today | Updated: Dec 08, 2012

Egypt's Morsi Rescinds Power Decree, But Opposition Calls It a 'Stunt'

Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi has canceled his decree giving himself sweeping powers, but plans to push forward with the planned Dec. 15 referendum on a draft constitution, CNN reports. The announcement came after Morsi met with other political leaders in Cairo on Saturday -- despite calls by the opposition to boycott the meeting -- in an attempt to end the violence and unrest that erupted following his Nov. 22 power grab. Opponents of Morsi criticized the announcement: Human rights lawyer Gamal Eid said it was a "play on words" since Morsi had already achieved the desired aim of finalizing the draft constitution and protecting it from judicial challenge, and writer and activist Bassem Sabry called it a "stunt" that would embarrass Morsi's opposition but not resolve the problem. "In the end, Morsi got everything he wanted," Sabry said. "He protected the constituent assembly, the draft constitution and rammed into a referendum when people will have no time to study it against what he had promised before, which is that the document won't be put into a referendum without sufficient national consensus."



Egypt's Morsi Rescinds Power Decree, But Opposition Calls It a 'Stunt'