Egypt: President’s ‘coup’ takes control from top brass

Published on 14/08/2012 00:00

Egypt’s military signalled its ­acquiescence yesterday to the president’s surprise decision to retire the defence minister and chief of staff, and seize back powers that the nation’s top generals took from his office.

President Mohammed Morsi’s shake-up of the military on Sunday took the nation by surprise. It transformed his image overnight from a weak leader to a savvy politician who carefully timed his move against the military brass who stripped him of significant powers days before he took office on 30 June.

A posting yesterday on a Facebook page known to be close to the country’s former military rulers said the changes amounted to the “natural” handing over of leadership.

“A greeting from the heart filled with love, appreciation and respect to our leaders who passed on the banner,” said the posting. “The armed forces is a prestigious institution with a doctrine of full discipline and commitment to legitimacy.”

Days before Mr Morsi’s inauguration, the military decreed constitutional amendments that gave them the power to legislate after they dissolved parliament, as well as control the national budget. It also gave them control over the process of drafting a new constitution. The generals had put themselves in charge of all defence and foreign policy, including the appointment of the defence minister.

With this move, Mr Morsi reclaimed the powers taken from him, seizing back sole control of the constitution-drafting process and the right to legislate.

Mr Morsi has been locked in a power struggle with the military since he took office on 30 June. But after militants killed 16 Egyptian soldiers a week ago at a border post with Israel in Sinai, he has sought more aggressively to assert his authority.