President Mohammed Morsi (centre) meeting with members of the Supreme Judicial Council Presidential spokesman Yasser Ali said late on Monday that Egypt President Mohammed Morsi's recent controversial constitutional declaration would not be subject to any change or modification, noting that the declaration may have been "misunderstood" by the public.
The declaration, issued by Morsi on Thursday night, was met with broad outrage from judges, journalists syndicate and political opposition, who described it as an "attack on democracy" and a "threat to judicial independence."
Tens of thousands demonstrated against the move on Friday in Cairo and in other Egyptian governorates. Other mass protests are expected to take place on Tuesday across Egypt and particularly in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
The declaration states that Presidential decrees can't be legally challenged by courts. The declaration also protects Egypt's Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly, tasked with drafting a new constitution and the Shura Council (the upper house of parliament) from dissolution by court order. Both were likely to be dissolved upon constitutional and legal violations in their formation.
"The declaration will only immunise the President's sovereign decrees from legal challenges," asserted Ali, stressing the measure's temporary nature.
The statement was issued following the President's meeting with members of the Supreme Judicial Council, the top body representing Egyptian judges.
The declaration has also sparked fear among judges, who perceive it as a potential threat to judicial independence. Some Egyptian courts have declared partial strikes to protest the declaration.
In his statement, Ali stressed the President's respect for Egypt's judicial institutions and their independence, noting that Morsi was keen to avoid clashing with the judiciary.
Regarding the article in the decree calling for the retrial of police and Mubarak-era officials implicated in killing protesters, Ali clarified that the article would only apply "in cases where new evidence has appeared."
Meanwhile, The Strong Egypt Party, led by former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, called on President Morsi to withdraw the constitutional declaration issued on Thursday.
The party said it agrees only on the dismissal of the former general prosecutor and the retrials of former regime officials, but the rest of the articles of the declaration must be annulled, it said in a statement issued Monday.
New criteria for appointing a new general prosecutor should be set, the party added, saying the general prosecutor should be nominated by the Supreme Judicial Council and ratified by the President, not appointed directly by the President as Morsi did.
The statement slammed the Interior Ministry, demanding the immediate cessation of "brutality" against protesters in violation of the law and human rights norms. The Ministry should be restructured, the party added, and all officers who have been linked to human rights violations should be dismissed.
The party urged a national dialogue to agree on the Constituent Assembly and the constitution draft and trusted that political forces would halt their protests if Morsi withdraws his declaration.
"The party seeks to preserve the unity of the nation," the statement added, "and hopes that all concerned parties would respond positively to this initiative."