Egypt's Morsi strikes in power play with military

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, right, swears in newly-appointed Minister of Defense, Lt. Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, left, in Cairo, Egypt, Aug. 12, 2012.

/ AP Photo/Egyptian Presidency

(CBS News) CAIRO - In a major power play that took the country by surprise, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi sacked the two top-ranking military leaders and abolished the supplementary constitutional declaration put in place by top generals in June that gave them wide powers and severely curtailed the authority of the presidency.

Morsi's move effectively folds the powers wielded by top generals into his own portfolio, leaving the first Islamist, democratically elected president of Egypt with sweeping executive and legislative powers. The presidential spokesman who announced last night's decisions also claimed that Morsi has assumed the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces' (SCAF) ability to create a new constituent assembly should the one currently drafting the country's proposed constitution face "obstacles" in its work - potentially leaving the executive the opportunity to profoundly influence the shape of Egypt's future.

The military leaders - Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and Lieutenant Gen. Sami Anan - had served as defense minister and chief of staff respectively. Tantawi occupied that position for 20 years and was widely considered a close ally of ousted President Hosni Mubarak. Both served on the SCAF - the military junta that ruled Egypt for a year-and-a-half following Mubarak's ouster - and were two of the most powerful men in the military establishment, if not the country itself. Morsi also fired the heads of three branches of Egypt's armed forces.

Egypt president retires defense minister, nixes military-declared constitutional amendments

At least some members of the SCAF seem to have gone along with the president's decision to fire the senior military leaders and promote junior ones in their stead - which some see as an attempt bring the powerful military institution in line with the new political calculus. Analyst Dr. Omar Ashour of the Brookings Doha Center says the decision was "aimed to balance the civilian-military relations in Egypt and to enhance the power of an otherwise underdog elected civilian president who had less power than the unelected, unconstitutional Supreme Council of the Armed Forces."

Before handing over the country to civilian control, SCAF attempted to strip much of the president's powers by proclaiming a constitutional addendum last June - just 20 minutes after polls closed in the country's first democratic presidential elections. That power struggle continued over the past two months since Morsi entered office, with Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood attempting to exert greater control over the state and the military positioning itself as a bulwark against complete Islamist domination of the government.

The political tug-of-war came to a head last week following the attacks by unknown militants in the Sinai peninsula - an area considered increasingly lawless following the Jan. 25, 2011, revolution, with kidnappings of foreign nationals becoming more common. The pipeline that pumps natural gas to Israel has been attacked 15 times since.

And Monday, Egyptians woke up to headlines trumpeting the president's move against the military. The headline of leading independent newspaper al-Shorouk read: "Morsi ends military rule." Another newspaper led with the headline: "Morsi to resolve power struggle."

But the military establishment's hold on the Egyptian political scene and in the economy is still strong. It still commands a vast economic empire and will continue to have a strong say in the workings of the state, says Ashour. "The military will still be a significant player; however I think it is being undermined step by step by the elected civilians and at a faster pace then usual. ... It usually takes more time to put back the military in the box and under civilian control."

In comments broadcast live to the nation late last night during a religious ceremony celebrating the holy month of Ramadan, Morsi sought to explain his actions as not being against any particular individual or meant to "embarrass" any institution, but rather undertaken "for the good of the country and its people."

Be that as it may, the battle for political supremacy and stability in Egypt is far from over. Anti-Morsi political forces have called for street demonstrations on Aug. 24 against the president's rule. And the military, despite the firings of its top brass, remains a potent and powerful political actor.

[Nikos_Retsos]

The Egyptian crowds on Tahrir Square have been constantly demanding that the military get out of politics, but the Egyptian junta refused to budge. The Egyptian junta, with behind the scenes U.S. support, wanted to keep Mr. Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in check to prevent any chance that Egypt may fall into Iran's orbit. After all, Morsi was a political prisoner under the Mubarak regime, and the U.S. never protested his imprisonment as it protested the imprisonment of Burmese -for example- political prisoners.

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the U.S. hunted Islamists across Middle East to prevent any Arab state from becoming another Iran. In that U.S. pursuit, the U.S. pushed Mubarak to crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood, and Mr. Morsi ended up in prison. He was then "the hunted!"

With the Egyptian Revolution's ouster of Hosni Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood won the parliamentary elections, but that election was outlawed by Mubarak cronies at the Egyptian Supreme Court. And when Mr. Morsi won the presidency, the Egyptian junta issued a degree limiting his powers. In fact, the Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary majority, and Mr. Morsi as president, became "the hounded" by the Mubarak's allies still in key positions in the courts and the army.

I believe Mr. Morsi decided it was time to become "the hunter" and claim his legitimate authority, or fall like a hero - rather than stay in the presidential palace as a marionette president. He succeeded. Surely, "he stroke a power play with the military." After all, that was the sequence of his life story: From "HUNTED," to "HOUNDED," to "HUNTER!" He earned his stripes! Nikos Retsos, retired professor

[IMFurious]

When it is all said and done, the Islamists will have complete control of Egypt. And Barak Hussein Obama will be grinning like a Persian cat!!

[usunus]

All those going gaga over the so-called Arab Spring for months will now have a horror show revealed to them now by Morsi &co.

[doerndiego]

Good story on an important development which seems to have escaped the attention of the nightly news and other mainstream outlets.