CAIRO ? Egypt?s Muslim Brotherhood warned that the gains of last year?s revolution could be ?wiped out? by Supreme Court rulings it sees as aimed at blocking its political ascent, and activists called for a protest march Friday against what they called a ?soft military coup.?
A day after the country?s highest court ruled that the Islamist-dominated parliament should be dissolved and threw out a law that effectively barred an old-regime prime minister from running for president, Egyptians faced new uncertainties and political turmoil that could imperil the country?s transition to democratic rule.
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On the eve of a historic presidential runoff vote, the Brotherhood warned that Egypt appeared headed into ?very difficult days that might be more dangerous than the last days of Mubarak?s rule.? The statement referred to the violence that preceded the ouster of autocratic president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, when a military council acceded to a popular uprising against his 30-year reign and took power from him.
?All the democratic gains of the revolution could be wiped out and overturned with the handing of power to one of the symbols of the previous era,? the Brotherhood?s statement said, alluding to the high court?s decision safeguarding the presidential candidacy of former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq.
The rulings, announced by the Supreme Court on Thursday, quickly strengthened the hand of forces linked to Egypt?s old regime, and they significantly raised the stakes of the weekend?s runoff vote between Shafiq and the Muslim Brotherhood?s Mohamed Morsi.
By ruling that the parliament should be dissolved on grounds that one-third of its members were elected illegally, the court effectively washed away the modest system of checks and balances that Islamists and revolutionaries had sought to build in the 16 months since the overthrow of Mubarak. Revolutionaries decried the court decisions, which cannot be appealed, as irrefutable proof that the country?s military chiefs had used the veneer of last year?s revolt to stage a coup.
The April 6 Youth Movement, which was instrumental in firing up popular opposition to Mubarak, called for a protest march to Cairo?s renowned Tahrir Square on Friday evening. ?We will save our revolution,? the group said in a statement early Friday. ?We will save Egypt from military rule.?
Nora Soliman, one of the founding members of the liberal Justice Party, said Thursday, ?We had people on the streets, but it was all usurped by the military.? She said the military ?succeeded in playing on people?s fear of a state on the verge of collapse.?
Small clashes between protesters and security forces broke out near the courthouse after the Supreme Court?s decisions were announced, but predictions that the rulings would immediately fuel widespread unrest proved unfounded.
A Morsi victory now appears to represent the only potential roadblock to a return to the old order, in which the state used its vast security apparatus and network of patronage to maintain order and muffle critics.
Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=79207711bce360f72c3cda8a236e0d28
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