CAIRO — President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt forced
the retirement on Sunday of his powerful defense minister, the army chief of
staff and other senior generals, moving more aggressively than ever before to
reclaim political power that the military had seized since the fall of Hosni
Mubarak last year.
Mr. Morsi also nullified a constitutional declaration, issued by the
military before he took office on June 30, that had gutted the authority of his
office. On Sunday, he replaced it with his own declaration, one that gave him
broad legislative and executive powers and, potentially, a decisive role in the
drafting of Egypt’s still unfinished new constitution.
The maneuvers by Mr. Morsi, a former leader of the Muslim
Brotherhood, cemented a major shift in power that began with his election in
the face of intense opposition from the military. It received a decisive push
this month after 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed in the northern Sinai, deeply
embarrassing the generals and weakening them politically.
Still, it was unclear on Sunday whether the generals would accept
Mr. Morsi’s latest moves. One top general said the reshuffle was made in
“consultations” between Mr. Morsi and the military. There was no sign of a
backlash by the military on Sunday night, as the president’s supporters held
large rallies in Cairo.
“We had been
chanting, ‘Down, down with military rule,’ ” said Shady el-Ghazaly Harb, a
liberal political activist. “Today it came true.”
Officials in Washington have been closely watching the confrontation
between Mr. Morsi’s civilian government and military leaders, saying that
negotiations over how to share power were going on behind closed doors. Neither
the White House nor the State Department offered any immediate reaction to the
command shakeup ordered by Mr. Morsi. An Obama administration official said the
United States was not warned that it was coming.
In a fiery speech on Sunday at an event celebrating a Muslim holy
day, Mr. Morsi said his decisions were not meant to “embarrass” the military or
its leaders and that he was acting in the “the best interests of this nation.”
“Today, this
nation returns — this people returns — with its blessed revolution,” he said.
“Support me strongly, so we can move to a better future.”
The retirements announced on Sunday swept away the most prominent
names in the military power structure. Most stunning for many observers was the
retirement of Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the defense minister. A
crucial ally of Mr. Mubarak, the field marshal had served in the post for more
than 20 years.
More than any other military leader, Field Marshal Tantawi was seen
as the symbol, if not the architect, of the military’s bid for increasing power
after the 2011 uprising. As the leader of the Supreme Council of the Armed
Forces, known as SCAF, he was the country’s de facto leader before Mr. Morsi’s
election. At 76 years old, he was expected to retire soon, though no date had
been announced, and Mr. Morsi had just reappointed him as defense minister.
The army chief of staff who was forced to retire, Sami Hafez Anan,
was seen by many analysts as a potential successor to Field Marshal Tantawi.
Both men were kept on as presidential advisers with undisclosed roles. Mr.
Morsi also pushed out the chiefs of the navy, the air force and the air defense
branch.
As analysts struggled to tell whether the shakeup represented a
break between Mr. Morsi and the military, or a carefully brokered deal, many
looked for clues in the replacements named for the retired generals.
For two major posts, Mr. Morsi chose officers from the supreme
military council, suggesting that he had possibly struck a deal with younger
officers Some saw the way that the retirements were announced — not as
voluntary actions by the officers, but as referrals by the president — as
evidence that Field Marshal Tantawi and General Anan might not have known they
were coming. But that was far from
clear.
For his new defense minister, Mr. Morsi chose the head of military
intelligence, Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, who was seen as close to Field Marshal
Tantawi; Gen. Mohamed al-Assar was named an assistant defense minister.
General Assar told Reuters that Mr. Morsi’s decision was “based on
consultation with the field marshal and the rest of the military council.”
While the retirements marked at least a symbolic end to the
military’s dominant role in Egyptian politics, Mr. Morsi’s abolishment of the
constitutional declaration posed a more fundamental challenge to the military.
It also raised the possibility of a new confrontation with one of Egypt’s
highest courts.
The military originally issued the declaration in a bid to hamstring
Mr. Morsi in the event that he won the election. The generals have won backing
for many of their decisions from the Supreme Constitutional Court, whose judges
are seen as highly politicized.
It was not clear on Sunday how the court would react to the
president’s decision to supersede the declaration with his own. “If the
military acquiesces, would the court act unilaterally?” asked Michael Wahid
Hanna, a fellow at the Century Foundation. “This is extralegal. The court has
essentially said that the SCAF’s road map was O.K.”
Gaber Nassar, a professor of constitutional law at Cairo University,
said that Mr. Morsi has had the right to abolish the military’s declaration
since the first day of his presidency. “The court has no power whatsoever in
this matter,” he said.
Perhaps anticipating a fight with the courts, Mr. Morsi on Sunday
appointed a senior judge, Mahmoud Mekky, as his vice president. When Mr.
Mubarak was president, Mr. Mekky fought for judicial independence and spoke out
frequently against voting fraud. Mr. Morsi had previously named Mr. Mekky’s
brother, Ahmed Mekky, who also has a record as an advocate for independence in
the judiciary, as his justice minister.
Mr. Morsi’s aggressive steps on Sunday, capped by his soaring
speech, contrasted sharply with his lackluster image before he became
president. He was the Muslim Brotherhood’s second choice as a candidate,
selected after the group’s chief strategist, Khairat al-Shater, was deemed
ineligible.
On Sunday, in a speech laden with religious references, he spoke of
the “many challenges” facing the nation, and suggested that Egypt — and its
military — needed fresh leadership.
“I never
meant to antagonize anyone,” he said. “We go on to new horizons, with new
generations, with new blood that has long been awaited.”
He appeared to be moving confidently after a period that seemed to
expose some vulnerabilities.
Mr. Morsi came in for sharp criticism after the attack in Sinai last
week, with allies of the military saying his close relationship with the
Islamist group Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, was to blame for the
soldiers’ deaths. The criticism intensified after Mr. Morsi, citing security
concerns, decided not to appear at the funeral for the soldiers.
In response, Mr. Morsi fired his intelligence chief; the governor of
Northern Sinai district, where the attack took place; and the head of the
military police. Some people speculated that he moved on Sunday in part to
pre-empt a planned demonstration this month by his opponents, including many
Mubarak supporters.
“He’s been
gaining power with time,” Mr. Harb, the activist, said of Mr. Morsi, whom he
had criticized in the past. “He was sending a message to whoever thinks the
Mubarak regime is still able to come back: The SCAF is not going to do anything
for them. A military coup is not going to happen.”
Omar Ashour, a professor at Exeter University who is currently in
Cairo, said that for weeks, Mr. Morsi had been pursuing a careful strategy to
enhance his power, appointing revolutionary figures to crucial cabinet posts to
address the state’s “soft power.” With the purge of the military command, Mr. Ashour said, “he’s
going after hard power as well.”
While the leadership changes were proceeding in Cairo, Egyptian
troops pressed their campaign to find the killers from the Sinai attack. The
military said it had killed at least five militants. Pictures of the aftermath
of the operation showed charred bodies. Security officials said troops found
machine guns, explosives and rocket-propelled grenades at the site.
Steven Lee Myers contributed reporting from Washington, and Mayy El
Sheikh from Cairo.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: August 12, 2012
An earlier version of this article contained a picture caption that
incorrectly identified the location in a photo of the Egyptian president,
Mohamed Morsi. He was standing on the right, not the left.
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