Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has been effectively overthrown by the military on Wednesday. In a statement by Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the armed forces explained that President Morsi had ignored calls of the people, and the armed forces for reconciliation, and that it was suspending the constitution and calling for early elections. Massive crowds gathered in Tahrir Square reveled in jubilation, while doubts remain over what the Muslim Brotherhood’s supporters, who back deposed President Morsi, will do.
The move was preceded by the mass mobilization of armed vehicles around Cairo, particularly to areas of high concentration of people. Reports indicated military forces were mobilized to areas where many had gathered in support of Morsi, such as Cairo University.
In his televised statement, General Fattah al-Sisi noted the armed forces were adhering to their civil responsibility and not looking to move power. Flanked by opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei and the Coptic Pope, the General unveiled their road map which included suspending the constitution, putting the chief justice in charge, calling for early elections, setting up an interim technocrat government, and forming a committee to amend the constitution.
General Fattah al-Sisi suggested President Morsi hadn’t paid attention to the military’s repeated attempts to get him to push for reconciliation. After meeting with opposition and religious leaders, the armed forces chose to remove Morsi from power.
Finally, Egypt’s military chief urged the people to steer away from violence, but gave an ominous threat: we will stand up firmly and strictly to any act that stands against the rule of law, he said, referring to the Muslim Brotherhood and other pro-Morsi supporters who have gathered en masse.
According to Stratfor, top members of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Wasat party had been banned from leaving the country, including President Morsi, and Muslim Brotherhood chief Mohamed Badie and his deputy, Khairat al-Shater.
Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, hasn’t made an appearance on Wednesday. Morsi had responded defiantly on Tuesday to the military, urging them to remove a 48-hour ultimatum that had been placed for achieving national reconciliation, in his last public appearance.
Markets in the U.S. were already closed by the time of the announcement, ahead of the July 4 holiday. While stocks had rallied on initial rumors of the coup, crude oil, which broke the $100 mark for the first time since April 2012, began to trend down around 3:00 PM in New York, and was trading at 1.6%. The Market Vectors Egypt had rallied sharply, closing the day up 4.3%.
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