Q&A: What do Morsi's new powers mean?

28 Nov 2012, 1:56 pm   -   Source: Shanthi Benjamin, SBS
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Former Australian Ambassador to Egypt Professor Robert Bowker explains what Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's new sweeping powers mean for Egypt and the region.

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Professor Robert Bowker is an adjunct professor at the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at Australian National University. He’s served as Australian Ambassador to Egypt for three years and explains what President Mohammed Morsi's new sweeping powers mean for Egypt and the region. He speaks here to SBS reporter Shanthi Benjamin.

Late last week, President Morsi announced a new measure which would mean any decision he made would not be subject to a judicial review. While the President says the decree will end by next year's election, it still essentially places the president above the law. The decision has sparked mass protests in Cairo.

WHAT EXACTLY ARE THE POWERS PRESIDENT MORSI IS TRYING TO SECURE?

President Morsi has issued a decree which has in effect places the decisions of the President or the executive ahead of any decisions the Egyptian judicial system might choose to make. There’s been some discussion on whether those powers would apply to absolutely all areas but it does appear that his original intention is to essentially put the presidency above the law.

IS THIS THE FINAL WORD ON IT, OR IS THERE SOME AVENUE FOR EGYPTIANS TO HAVE THEIR SAY?

I think the intention of the President was to hold these plans only until they have parliamentary elections and he would rescind the decree at that point or before the elections. But the concerns that the critics have is that this is the beginning of a slippery slope, which would remain a means by which the Muslim Brotherhood, headed by the President, could remain in power indefinitely. The protests that are taking place on the streets now are really the only means by which the popular concerns about this can be given expression.

WHO ARE THE CRITICS OF THE EDICT?

One of the interesting things about the move is that it has brought together a previously very fragmented opposition. There are all spectrums of political opinions in Egypt beyond the Islamist party, the Brotherhood and their Salafist rivals, who have come together to really express their concern about this decision. So you have former presidential candidates like Mohamed Elbaradei and Amr Moussa joining with Nasserist folks and others, all taking advantage of this rekindling of the revolutionary momentum that was last seen in clashes against the military leadership in November last year.

WATCH REPORT: COULD EGYPT DUMP PRESIDENT MORSI'S DECREE?

ARE THE NEW POWERS A STEP BACKWARDS FROM LAST YEAR'S REVOLUTION?

It’s certainly a risk that they will be used to consolidate the power of the government and reduce its accountability to a constitutional balance of powers approach. It’s also posing a very real risk of sectarian conflict developing as this contest goes on. It’s not at that point yet, but much of the rallying on the pro-government side is emphasising the solidarity of Islamists' opinion versus non Islamists, and that’s a very worrying trend.

HOW HARD WILL IT BE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO CRITICISE THIS NEW MOVE, AFTER MORSI WAS SUCH A KEY PLAYER IN THE CEASEFIRE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HAMAS?

Morsi acted in regard to Gaza strictly out of concern for Egyptian national interests and I think the international community is not going to be diverted by the consideration of whether Egypt has a part to play in regard to Israel and the Palestinians when it looks at these very specific measures that Morsi is taking. On the other hand, Morsi is in a difficult situation. His capacity to lead Egypt is clearly being challenged by the absence of the parliament and by a very unsupportive judiciary. He’s having great difficulty converting the vision of the Brotherhood into practical programs for economic change and development and so on. And I think he was genuinely concerned that if the constitutional court dismissed the constitutional assembly, this whole process could drag on indefinitely. Where he went wrong is trying to force through these measures without consultation with the parties affected by them before he made the decree public.


DO YOU THINK IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH SMOOTHER AND EASIER IF HE HAD CONSULTED WITH OTHER PEOPLE AND HAD SLOWLY BROUGHT THESE CHANGES IN?

It would have been very rocky even if he had gone about it in a more measured way, but it would certainly be the course of action that he, on reflection, would be choosing right now.

WHAT DOES THIS MOVE MEAN FOR THE REGION?

Egypt has a quarter of the population of the Arab world and if the revolution in Egypt makes headway through these initial, very difficult days, it will have a huge impact on expectations across the Arab World on what a modern progressive, Arab state can look like and what can be achieved without recourse to civil war, as sadly it has taken place in Syria and Libya. A great deal of Arab hopes still rest on the Egyptians working their way through these problems, but at the same time there will be a very large proportion of the younger, progressive voices within the Arab society who simply cannot abide to the notion that a dictator in the form of Hosni Mubarak can be replaced by an authoritarian regime, just because it suited the convenience of the government at the time to move in that direction rather than upholding the ideals that the revolution was meant to achieve.
 

Egyptian Government

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