Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi Three of President Mohammed Morsi’s advisers announced their resignations on Wednesday evening in Egypt. The decisions come amidst clashes which are taking place outside Ittihadiya Presidential Palace between protesters who have been conducting a sit-in and Muslim Brotherhood youths.
Five people are reported to have died and around 211 were injured. Police intervened to break up the violence.
Morsi\'s advisers resigned in protest to the handling of the crisis. Dr Seif Abdulfattah announced his resignation tearfully in an on-air telephone call with a news channel. Ayman al-Sayyad, meanwhile, announced he had resigned a week earlier but had kept his decision under wraps. Al-Sayyad announced in a Twitter message that President Morsi’s advisory panel had resigned “after trying to keep the matter under wraps for a whole week in order to seek a resolution for the current crisis, but all to no avail.”
The third adviser to resign, television host Am al-Laithy, tweeted: “Today I announce that I have handed in my resignation from the president’s advisory panel over a week ago in protest against the constitutional declaration and that I was not consulted in any of these decisions.”
Constitution Party Founder Mohammed el-Baradei remarked: “The current regime led by President Mohammed Morsi loses more of its legitimacy every day.”
“The constitution\" al-Baradei added, “ is nothing more than an invalid document brought forth by an invalid committee.” The opposition figurehead also criticised Morsi for “dragging his feet” by delaying his address to the Egyptian people regarding the current situation. El-Baradei called on Morsi to make an appearance and announce the cancellation of the constitutional declaration and “review his actions and those of his group for the violence they have caused on the Egyptian street.”
Presidential adviser Judge Mahmoud Mekki has meanwhile called on political forces to engage in dialogue in order to investigate ways to fulfil the objectives of the revolution.
Head of Egypt’s judicial inspection department and assistant to the minister of justice, Zaghloul al-Balshi demanded Wednesday evening the immediate rescinding of the constitutional declaration, threatening to resign from supervising judicial oversight of the constitution referendum.
In a press release on Wednesday, the ministry said central security forces had been “continuing their efforts to contain the situation”. They had been “able to separate the supporters and the protesters” and end the attacks at the corners of al-Ahram, al-Lakkani, Mirighni Street and al-Uruba.
The clashes, the ministry reported, then moved into the side streets, reaching the corner of al-Mirighni and al-Khalifa al-Maamoun Street. Five birdshot slugs, a pocket knife, a box cutter and a quantity of rubber bullets were recovered by police during the clashes and 32 people were arrested and are set to be arraigned, the ministry report said.
The ministry also urged all political and party figureheads to instruct their supporters to adhere to non-violence, prevent assaults and maintain the security and safety of the all people.
A closed meeting between of a number of National Salvation Front members was held Wednesday evening. The meeting was attended by the chairman of the Constitution Party, Mohammed el-Baradei, former presidential candidate and popular current bloc leader Hamdin Sabbahi; former presidential candidate and chairman of the National Congress Party, Amr Moussa and chairman of al-Wafd Party al-Sayed al-Badawi, as well as opposition figures Hussein Abdulghani, Gameela Ismail, Emad Aby Ghazi and George Ishak.
Eyewitnesses told Arabstoday that panic spread through the crowds of Morsi’s supporters and protesters in al-Ahram Street near Ittihadiya Palace after gunshots were heard. The back gates of the palace became the site of street warfare between protesters and members of the Muslim Brotherhood, using rocks, empty bottles and petrol bombs. Brotherhood supporters fired buckshot to intimidate and disperse the demonstrators as a group of protesters tried to prevent Brotherhood members from passing through al-Ahram Street near the palace.
Local shop owners had to shut their businesses as most vehicles parked on the streets were smashed and local residents were put in a state of panic. Eyewitnesses said Brotherhood members had formed human shields to prevent protesters from reaching the palace.
Police forces fired teargas in Ismailia to disperse clashes between local activists and members of the Muslim Brotherhood outside the local headquarters of the Brotherhood-affiliated party.
Ismailia protesters broke into the local headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in protest against its members’ assault on demonstrators at the Ittihadiya sit-in. The protesters marched towards the headquarters, which they trashed before torching.
No members of the Muslim Brotherhood were inside and no policemen were present.
Dozens of protesters also torched the Islamist organisation’s local headquarters in Suez, after security forces cordoning the area failed to prevent their entry.