By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
DailynewsegyptDailynewsegypt
  • Home
  • Business
    BusinessShow More
    Tatweer Misr breaks sales record in H1 2023
    Tatweer Misr breaks sales record in H1 2023
    September 25, 2023
    Real estate exports boost Egypt’s economy, Cityscape panel reveals
    Real estate exports boost Egypt’s economy, Cityscape panel reveals
    September 25, 2023
    SODIC reports 22% sales growth in 2023
    SODIC reports 22% sales growth in 2023
    September 25, 2023
    Huawei partners with Egypt to transfer modern technologies for digital transformation: Madkour
    Huawei partners with Egypt to transfer modern technologies for digital transformation: Madkour
    September 25, 2023
    HSBC plans climate tech funding push
    HSBC plans climate tech funding push
    September 25, 2023
  • Politics
    PoliticsShow More
    Presidential election in Egypt set for 10-12 December
    Presidential election in Egypt set for 10-12 December
    September 25, 2023
    Defence Minister meets NATO Military Committee chief
    Defence Minister meets NATO Military Committee chief
    September 25, 2023
    Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq discuss economic, political cooperation in New York
    Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq discuss economic, political cooperation in New York
    September 24, 2023
    Al-Sisi highlights opportunities for mutual benefit with China
    Al-Sisi highlights opportunities for mutual benefit with China
    September 24, 2023
    Egypt, India affirm their strategic partnership, discuss regional issues
    Egypt, India affirm their strategic partnership, discuss regional issues
    September 24, 2023
  • Interviews
    InterviewsShow More
    Microsoft Egypt aims to provide advanced AI models, build solid AI ecosystem: Mirna Arif
    Microsoft Egypt aims to provide advanced AI models, build solid AI ecosystem: Mirna Arif
    September 18, 2023
    I love privacy, and I am not concerned about competition: Yasmine Sabry
    I love privacy, and I am not concerned about competition: Yasmine Sabry
    September 14, 2023
    Sustainability, digital transformation at the heart of our strategy: Heidelberg Materials Egypt
    Sustainability, digital transformation at the heart of our strategy: Heidelberg Materials Egypt
    September 12, 2023
    India welcomes Egypt's BRICS membership: Boosting trade, investment, and access to strategic commodities
    India welcomes Egypt’s BRICS membership: Boosting trade, investment, and access to strategic commodities
    September 11, 2023
    The box office is not a measure of success: Basma Hassan
    The box office is not a measure of success: Basma
    September 6, 2023
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
Reading: Morsy assumes power: Sacks Tantawi and Anan, reverses constitutional decree and reshuffles SCAF
Share
Notification
Latest News
Presidential election in Egypt set for 10-12 December
Presidential election in Egypt set for 10-12 December
Politics Egypt
Tatweer Misr breaks sales record in H1 2023
Tatweer Misr breaks sales record in H1 2023
Business
Real estate exports boost Egypt’s economy, Cityscape panel reveals
Real estate exports boost Egypt’s economy, Cityscape panel reveals
Business
SODIC reports 22% sales growth in 2023
SODIC reports 22% sales growth in 2023
Business
Huawei partners with Egypt to transfer modern technologies for digital transformation: Madkour
Huawei partners with Egypt to transfer modern technologies for digital transformation: Madkour
Business
Aa
Aa
DailynewsegyptDailynewsegypt
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Interviews
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Interviews
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
  • Advertise
© 2023 DNE News. All Rights Reserved.
Dailynewsegypt > Blog > Egypt > Morsy assumes power: Sacks Tantawi and Anan, reverses constitutional decree and reshuffles SCAF
EgyptPolitics

Morsy assumes power: Sacks Tantawi and Anan, reverses constitutional decree and reshuffles SCAF

Ahmed Aboulenein
Last updated: 2012/08/12 at 10:04 PM
By Ahmed Aboulenein 9 Min Read
Share
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi (C), former head of the military council Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi (L) and former armed forces chief Sami Anan (R) attending a graduation ceremony of military cadets in Cairo on 12 August 12, AFP PHOTO/EGYPTIAN PRESIDENCY
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi (C), former head of the military council Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi (L) and former armed forces chief Sami Anan (R) attending a graduation ceremony of military cadets in Cairo on 12 August 12, AFP PHOTO/EGYPTIAN PRESIDENCY
SHARE
 Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi (C), former head of the military council Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi (L) and former armed forces chief Sami Anan (R) attending a graduation ceremony of military cadets in Cairo on 12 August 12,  AFP PHOTO/EGYPTIAN PRESIDENCY

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi (C), former head of the military council Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi (L) and former armed forces chief Sami Anan (R) attending a graduation ceremony of military cadets in Cairo on 12 August 12,
AFP PHOTO/EGYPTIAN PRESIDENCY

In an unexpected and unprecedented move, President Mohamed Morsy has sacked the country’s top military officials, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defence alongside his Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sami Anan.

Morsy has also appointed the former Deputy Chairman of the Cassation Court Judge Mahmoud Mekki as vice president.

In a statement read out by official presidential spokesperson Yasser Aly on state television Sunday, Morsy also announced the cancelation of the supplementary constitutional declaration and the removal of several other high ranking military officials and their replacements.

The cancelation of the constitutional decree, released by the military weeks before Morsy became president, returns to the president several powers over defence that were transferred to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. One such power is the ability to make personnel changes within the military, including SCAF, which is chaired by Tantawi with Anan as deputy.

According to Aly, the president will release a new constitutional decree that “allows him to exercise full presidential powers” in the official gazette.

Tantawi and Anan have been retired from their roles and appointed presidential advisors. Tantawi has been awarded Egypt’s top state honour; the Order of the Nile and Anan was awarded the prestigious Order of the Republic.

SCAF member Major General Abdel Fattah El Sissy, Director of the Military Intelligence and Scouting Agency, was promoted to full General and appointed as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defence and Military Production, replacing Tantawi.

El Sissy was the first military official to admit to the media the conducting of “virginity tests” by the military on female protestors last year.

At just 58 years of age, he is one of the youngest defence ministers in Egyptian history; second only to Nasser’s first defence minister, Abdel Hakim Amer.

Talk show host and Fara’een television channel owner Tawfiq Okasha had accused El Sissy in June of being a secret member of the Muslim Brotherhood. SCAF’s Facebook page however carried an official statement denying Okasha’s claim.

El Sissy was tasked by Morsy to plug the holes within SCAF after the latest promotions and retirements within the group.

Anan was replaced as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces by Major General Sedky Sobhy, Commander of the Third Field Army, who was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General. Sobhy is also a member of SCAF.

Major General Mohamed El Assar, Assistant Defense Minister for Armament Affairs and another SCAF member, was appointed Assistant Defence Minister, signalling an expansion in his portfolio.

He told the press that Morsy’s decision came after consulting Tantawi and other SCAF members.

“The decision was based on consultation with the field marshal and the rest of the military council,” El Assar told Reuters news agency.

However, Morsy’s legal adviser, Mohamed Fouad Gad-Allah, told the press that SCAF leadership, including Tantawi and Anan, were taken by surprise by Morsy’s decisions.

Other top military leaders were also removed. High ranking SCAF members Vice Admiral Mohab Mamish, Commander of the Egyptian Navy; Lieutenant General Abd El Aziz Seif-Eldeen, Commander of the Egyptian Air Defense Forces; and Air Marshal Reda Mahmoud Hafez, Commander of the Egyptian Air Force were also relieved from duty and moved on to civilian roles.

Together, the three men make up the leadership of all the military’s service branches with the exception of the army.

Mamish was made President of the Suez Canal Authority; Seif-Eldeen is now chairman of the Arab Organization for Industrialisation; and Hafez was appointed Minister of State for Military Production.

These appointments can be viewed as part of a safe exit deal. The Ministry of State for Military Production and the Arab Organization for Industrialisation make up two of the three sources of wealth in the Egyptian military’s vast economic empire, estimated by experts to compose somewhere between ten to 40 percent of the Egyptian economy.

Heading the Suez Canal is another very important civilian post also traditionally handed over to retired military leaders. The post holder is considered a minister without a portfolio and can attend cabinet meetings.

El Sissy and Mekki performed the oath of office in front of Morsy right after the announcement was made.

Mekki is one of the main figures in Egypt’s independent judiciary movement that fought against governmental interference in judicial affairs and election fraud during former President Hosni Mubarak’s era

The cancelation of the supplementary constitutional decree means that Morsy will no longer share power with SCAF. In the absence of an elected parliament, the lower house of which was dissolved by SCAF after the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled the parliamentary election law unconstitutional, Morsy now holds all executive and legislative powers of state.

The new constitutional decree Morsy released is made up of just four articles. It rules that the 17 March constitutional decree is abrogated and that the president assumes all the powers outlined in article 56, originally reserved for SCAF, of the 30 March 2011 constitutional decree.

These powers cover: legislation; issuing public policy for the state and the public budget and ensuring its implementation; selecting the appointed members of the People’s Assembly; assembling and adjourning the People’s Assembly and Shura Council; the promulgation or objection to laws; representing the state domestically and abroad, signing international treaties and agreements, and being considered a part of the legal system of the state; appointing the prime minister and his deputies, ministers and their deputies, as well as relieving them from their duties; appointing civilian and military employees and political representatives, dismissing them according to the law as well as accrediting foreign political representatives; and finally pardoning or reducing punishment, though blanket amnesty is granted only by law.

Article three says the president has the right to form the Constituent Assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution in case the current one is prevented from doing so and that the new assembly would be required to complete the constitution within three months of its formation with the draft being put to referendum 30 days after its completion.

This means that if the current assembly, which currently faces dissolution as part of a case being viewed by the Administrative Judiciary Court, is in fact dissolved, it will be Morsy who appoints a replacement, not SCAF.

The article also stipulates that new parliamentary elections are to be held two months after the constitution passes through a public referendum.

Finally, article four says that the decree is to be published in the official state gazette and is effective the following day.

The President now has the right to bring back the dissolved house, the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated People’s Assembly, a move he tried earlier only to be blocked by SCAF and the court.

At the time of going to press, President Morsy was scheduled to give a speech in the Laylat al-Qadr celebration held at the Al-Azhar conference centre in Nasr City.

You Might Also Like

Presidential election in Egypt set for 10-12 December

Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia resume talks on GERD in Addis Ababa

Defence Minister meets NATO Military Committee chief

Health Minister orders probe into New Cairo Hospital violations

Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq discuss economic, political cooperation in New York

TAGGED: Anan, Egypt, FJP, Morsy, Muslim Brotherhood, scaf, tantawy
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Email Print
By Ahmed Aboulenein
Ahmed Aboul Enein is an Egyptian journalist who hates writing about himself in the third person. Follow him on Twitter @aaboulenein
Previous Article Rights groups, trade unionists and members of the February 20 movement protest against the high cost of living and other causes of social discontent in Rabat on 11 August AFP PHOTO / FADEL SENNA Moroccans protest against high prices
Next Article Review: Morsy, terrorism and power cuts fill op-ed columns
1 Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Ad image
Ad image

Stay Connected

Facebook Like
Twitter Follow
Instagram Follow
Youtube Subscribe

Latest News

Presidential election in Egypt set for 10-12 December
Presidential election in Egypt set for 10-12 December
Politics Egypt
Tatweer Misr breaks sales record in H1 2023
Tatweer Misr breaks sales record in H1 2023
Business
Real estate exports boost Egypt’s economy, Cityscape panel reveals
Real estate exports boost Egypt’s economy, Cityscape panel reveals
Business
SODIC reports 22% sales growth in 2023
SODIC reports 22% sales growth in 2023
Business
//
Egypt’s only independent daily newspaper in English. Discuss the country’s latest with the paper’s reporters, editors, and other readers.

Quick Link

  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Interviews
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!

© 2023 DNE News. All Rights Reserved.

Join Us!

Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news, podcasts etc..

Zero spam, Unsubscribe at any time.

Removed from reading list

Undo
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?