As rival candidates claimed victory in Egypt's presidential elections on Monday, a military decree expanding the army's political powers took the gloss off the country's top post. A series of constitutional amendments were issued on Sunday night by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), the military leadership which has held presidential powers since the former leader Hosny Mubarak stepped down amid a popular revolt in February 2011.
Under the amendments, Egypt's new president will not be entitled to declare war or request military assistance for internal security without the approval of SCAF, which will also hold legislative power until a new parliament is elected. The military council also retains sole responsibility for "deciding on all issues related to the armed forces including appointing its leaders and extending the terms in office of the aforesaid leaders."
Reaction from Egyptian opposition figures and rights activists has been swift and angry. Many see it as the latest stage in a power grab by the military, who were thought to be prefer the former air force commander Ahmed Shafiq to Islamist Mohamed Morsi in the weekendd's presidential run-off vote "This declaration is not lawful," Gamal Eid, director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, said in a telephone interview with dpa.
"It is an attempt by SCAF to keep its powers and protect its members," he added. "The constitutional declaration is a full-scale coup against the revolution," prominent novelist and SCAF opponent Alaa al-Aswany wrote on Twitter. The constitutional amendments are only the latest in a series of developments that cast doubt on Egypt's transition to democracy.
On June 14, a decision of the constitutional court disbanded the People's Assembly, the lower house of the country's recently elected parliament, in which Islamists held two thirds of the seats. SCAF General Mamdouh Shahin told a press conference on Monday that after that ruling, the military had no choice but to take over issuing legislation to preserve the separation of powers.
"You cannot give legislative powers to the courts or to the president," Shahin said. Shahin said that the new president would have the power to appoint or dismiss the prime minister and all other ministers, including the minister for defence. But he did not clarify how that would affect the position of the head of SCAF, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who is also minister for defence.
The process of writing the country's new permanent constitution is also now in doubt. A constitutional assembly was elected by parliament shortly before its dissolution, but its fate is now unclear. The amendments issued by the military on Sunday say that "if anything prevents the constitutional assembly from completing its work, SCAF will appoint a new constitutional assembly representative of all sections of society within a week."
The assembly is required to draft a new constitution within three months of its formation. The new draft will be put to a national referendum within 15 days of its completion. SCAF retains the right to refer provisions of the draft constitution to the constitutional court prior to the referendum.
According to Sunday's constitutional declaration, parliamentary elections will be held one month from the day the new constitution is approved in the referendum. The speaker of the People's Assembly, leading Muslim Brotherhood member Saad al-Katatni, held emergency talks with SCAF on Sunday night and struck a defiant note. According to a statement on the Brotherhood's website, al-Katatni rejected the constitutional declaration. He said that SCAF had no legal right to assume law-making powers and that the Constituent Assembly was still in place and would begin work shortly.
He was also reported as saying that he was holding legal consultations on the SCAF decree dissolving the People's Assembly on foot of the court ruling. Mohamed El Baradei, the Egyptian Nobel Peace laureate and former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed, writing on Twitter, described the constitutional amendments as a "grave setback for democracy and revolution."
Rights activists foresee a political struggle as the dust settles after the elections. "We will never accept a constitutional declaration that affirms military rule in Egypt," Eid told dpa. "We will push Morsi, the elected president, to reject it and will support him in that," Eid said. "The president comes with the authority of elections, and that is stronger than the authority of tanks."
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