President
pledges radical reforms to state institutions, but also denounces 'enemies of
Egypt' for sabotaging democratic system
The
Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, used a televised address on Wednesday to
admit to making mistakes in his first year in office. But the president also
widened the divide between his Islamist supporters and Egypt's secular
opposition during his speech, blaming unspecified "enemies of Egypt"
for sabotaging the democratic system and warning that the polarised state of
the country's politics threatened to plunge it into chaos.
Morsi
pledged to introduce "radical and quick" reforms in state
institutions, admitting some of his goals had not been achieved.
"Today,
I present an audit of my first year, with full transparency, along with a
roadmap. Some things were achieved and others not," he said. "I have
made mistakes on a number of issues."
Yet in a
meandering speech that lasted more than two and a half hours, Morsi refused to
offer serious concessions to the opposition – and pointedly praised the army,
whom many opposition members hope will facilitate a transition of power in the
coming weeks.
On a night
when many hoped he would strike a conciliatory tone, Morsi instead criticised
opposition politicians for failing to engage in what he perceives to be
constructive dialogue.
He spoke
before a planned mass demonstration this weekend by his opponents who are
demanding that the president resigns and calls an early election.
Almost a
year on from Morsi's election to power, Egypt is dangerously divided between his Islamist supporters and a secular opposition that sees his rule as incompetent and autocratic.
 |
| Egypt's president Mohamed Morsi: 'Polarisation and conflict has reached a stage that threatens our nascent democratic experience.' Photograph: EPA |
Activists
claim 15 million Egyptians have signed a petition calling for his departure,
and expect a significant proportion of that number to turn out on Sunday to
force him from office.
Morsi was
speaking at a conference hall filled by cabinet ministers and senior officials
of his Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm, the Freedom and Justice party,
along with several hundred supporters.
Thousands
gathered to watch his speech on screens in Tahrir Square, the cradle of the
2011 uprising – and most reacted furiously for the duration of the address,
many holding shoes as a sign of disrespect.
"It's
really shameful that the president of Egypt, after a whole year in office,
walks on stage and starts accusing the whole country of treason," argued
Mohamed Zakaria, a tailor who watched the speech in Tahrir Square.
"We
were hoping for major concessions but he's given us nothing."
But the
speech may have helped to win over people undecided about joining Sunday's
protests.
Morsi often
used the language of the street, at times sounding humble and pious.
"He
spoke in a way that many Egyptians could relate to," said Yasser el-Shimy,
Egypt analyst for the Crisis Group.
"It
was a very colloquial speech in which he sounded almost countrified. But it
will have done little to convince his non-Islamist opponents."
But while
Morsi was at pains to win over the military, el-Shimy said the army – who
deployed tanks on the streets of Cairo on Wednesday, and whose intentions are
currently the subject of intense debate in Egypt – was unlikely to give him
their support based merely on the contents of the speech.
"The
army makes strategic decisions based on what they perceive to be the national
interest," el-Shimy said.
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