Egypt generals say they'll "hand over power to the elected president" at end of month

Egyptians walk past graffiti depicting half the face of ousted president Hosni Mubarak (R) joined to half the face of Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi (L), the current head of Egypt's ruling military council, with an Arabic writing reading 'Revolution continues' in Tahrir square in Cairo, March 17, 2012.

/ Getty

(CBS News) CAIRO - In spite of opposition claims that Egypt's cadre of ruling generals is setting up what they say amounts to a military dictatorship, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) announced Monday that it will "hand over power to the elected president" at the end of this month.

"The army will hand over power to the elected president in a big ceremony end-month that the entire world will witness," the official news agency MENA quoted Major-General Mohamed El Assar, a member of the ruling army council, as saying.

"Egypt is a modern democratic country that upholds all democratic values," the statement went on.

The Muslim Brotherhood claimed victory early Monday in Egypt's first freely-contested presidential election, saying their candidate Mohammed Morsi had enough votes to become the first Islamist head of state in the Middle East to be elected in the wake of the tumult of the "Arab Spring".

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Official results are due on Thursday, but with more than 95 percent of votes counted from some 13,000 polling stations, the Brotherhood said Morsi had taken 52 percent. Election officials told the Reuters news agency no winner would be declared until the official tabulation was completed later in the week, but they said the Brotherhood's numbers seemed accurate from the initial counting.

Morsi's opponent, former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq - the last prime minister to serve under ousted leader Hosni Mubarak - disputed the tally and leveled charges of electoral fraud. So far, independent monitors have not backed that up.

However, even if Morsi is confirmed the winner, and is anointed by SCAF at the end of the month, the military will still be in charge here.

Late Sunday SCAF issued what was called a "constitutional annex", awarding itself broad legislative authority in an interim constitution.

According to an English translation of the addendum by the online edition of the respected newspaper Al Ahram, Article 53 states, in part, that the military council is singularly "responsible for deciding on all issues related to the armed forces including appointing its leaders and

extending the terms in office of the aforesaid leaders."

The ploy came in the wake of the dissolution of the Islamist-dominated Parliament last week, and will give the SCAF more power than the president - including control over the country's budget.

The military will crucially also determine who writes the permanent constitution that will define the country's future, including the powers of the president.

Added to that is a decree granting the security forces wide powers of arrest and detention, which amounts to martial law, without the name.

The Muslim Brotherhood has denounced the moves as an "attempted coup", and has said it does not recognize the dissolution of parliament, in which they enjoyed a majority.

In a clear sign that he intends to challenge the SCAF, Morsi was flanked by the Speaker of Parliament when he made his victory speech.

[john5673]

America and the West has a golden opportunity to be a savior of Democracy and Freedom in the Arab world and that too in the largest Arab Nation, Egypt. Only if they play their card decisively rather than allow military goons to keep their hold and continue the dictatorship for another decade or century; similarly they did some 14 years ago when Algeria's election results were out. The election in Egypt was fair, free and very open to the public and people of the world. America and her allies should come out very strongly in favor of the Egypt election and give stern warning to the military to hand over the power to the elected government and allow them to write their own Constitution and start a new democratic Government. If not, America and the West will create unending bloodshed, killings, destruction and havoc for years to come not only in Egypt but in the entire Arab world. Obama and Hillary has to show their real leadership now.

[rightofwrong]

Again, this is a region that the US should stay the hell out of.

[smittyc]

The Muslim brotherhood and the Islamic fundamentalist party control over 70% of the electorate at the polls. It is a bad day for the Westernized Egyptians. As far as the military retaining any control, they are facing more than 56 million Egyptians who have a completely different view. The Egyptian generals and other Egyptian military leadership can expect to be purged, like every other military, the rank and file soldiers will support their fellow citizens in any gun fight regardless of any oath of allegience they took. History always has and always will repeat itself.

[KnowerseekerReturns]

Hm. Most of the military in Syria is staying true to Assad, however.

[mrjustice1]

Islam means:
submission to Allah's or God's will ...

... according to some delusional religious zealot's interpretation based on his subjective, personal, 'holier-than-thou' beliefs and desires, while fixated with an Apocalyptic, all-consuming, world-ending, Nuclear World War III scenario.

[melpol12]

Egypt and the Congo both have 80 million people but the Congolese are far more precious. If Egyptians did not threaten to suicide Israel the Congo would gain more media attention, their wildlife is magnificent. The U.S. should transfer its billion dollar support of Egypt to the Congo; it would save the elephants and rhinos that are on the verge of extinction. These animals are more interesting to photograph than the boring unmoving pyramids.

[RichZubaty]

What a mess. What was Obama doing giving a speech in Cairo right after he got elected? The man is disconnected from history. He should have gotten out of Afghanistan and left this alone. Governing does not consist of speech-making alone.

[credibility2]

If ever there was a time for our president and his party to forewarn the "winner" of the Egyptian elections, it would be now. The Muslim Brother hood wants to go to Sharia Law and turn Egypt into an Islamist State. If ever there was a "religion" that was anti-women, it is Islam. If ever there was a time for the liberals to come out in support of women and decry this result and the Brotherhood, it is now. But, knowing how liberals are they won't do this, because they're hypocrites.

[IMFurious]

The world only has two choices:

Does it want to support an Islamist government who has vowed to "permanently close the eyes of every man, woman and child" in Israel, and reduce the rights of women to less than those of a dog

Or does it want to support a military dictatorship that will be friendss with Israel, and respect the rights of women

Not a difficult choice at all!

[KnowerseekerReturns]

I don't think the military dictatorship will respect the rights of women any more than the Muslim Brotherhood might.

[rightofwrong]

There is a third choice...stay the hell out of it!

[geezer-dude]

What a failure. The Egyptians are going right back where they came from. This Country also did not allow their citizens the right to own firearms. No way to fight back. Just like the Holocaust.

[Nikos_Retsos]

The Egyptian army is aware, as is the U.S. that pulls their strings, that an Augusto Pinochet-like military regime in Cairo would be destabilizing in Middle East. It is not easy for the U.S. to justify its opposition of Bashar Assad, while looks the other way when the Bahrainian king Khalifa does the same in Bahrain, and when it warns the Egyptian Generals to suffocate the Egyptian Revolution, or the U.S. will cut off all its military aid to them! An Egyptian responding to my blog article "Egypt: Wanted! Another Gamal Abdel Nasser!" in the Bitish Daily Telegraph responded this way: "Mr. Retsos. We know what is going on in Egypt!" (That article was translated in Arabic and published in various Arabic websites) And I am sure they do!

Obviously, the Egyptian military junta softens up now because it knows the Egyptians are aware who butters their bread, and whom they bow to! And I am sure the U.S. has warned them not to go out of their way to look like U.S. marionettes!

The Egyptians have made it clear that they do no want an Islamic Republic in their country. But they also don't want a military junta -which is connected with an umbilical cord to a foreign power- standing over the shoulders of their elected leaders, and tell them what they can, and what they cannot do! Nikos Retsos, retired professor

[jd2408]

I don't own a gun myself but when reading this article I get a true understanding of how important the right to bear arms is to our freedom in this country. Every citizen can be a soldier. Every citizen prevents a military take over and a government dictatorship. To say it would never happen in our country without the right to bear arms may be true but I wouldn't bet on it.

[KnowerseekerReturns]

Glad you've come to understand. Myself, I am more concerned about police takeover, although if all or most of our military is replaced by drones (it's happening as we speak), then military takeover will suddenly become very possible.