Egypt president-elect vows to fight for authority

CAIRO (AP) In front of tens of thousands of cheering supporters, Egypt's first Islamist and civilian president-elect vowed Saturday that nobody can take away his authority and symbolically read an oath of office in Cairo's Tahrir Square on the eve of his official inauguration. Mohammed Morsi's strongly worded speech was a show of defiance as he gears up for a power struggle with the country's ruling generals who passed a constitutional declaration taking over major presidential powers in the days before election results were announced.





Many protesters had called for Morsi to hold his swearing-in ceremony in the square, the epicenter of mass protests that ousted his predecessor Hosni Mubarak, but the military generals ordered the swearing-in to be held in front of a high court, in the absence of a parliament. The ceremony was scheduled to be held Saturday.


The ruling generals have promised to transfer power to an elected president by Sunday. But they also have given themselves sweeping powers that undercut the authority of the president. The constitutional declaration issued days before the winner of a runoff vote was announced also designated the generals the country's legislature in place of the disbanded parliament.


He also addressed popular demands, vowing to release Omar Abdel-Rahman, the blind sheik jailed in the U.S. for a plot to blow up New York landmarks as well as detained Egyptian protesters facing military tribunals.

  • Discuss
  • Print

Comments » 0

Be the first to post a comment!


Sign up for email updates
