Dubai: Egypt is heading for a showdown after defiant President Mohammad Mursi failed to satisfy the demands of opponents who have been demanding the Islamist to step down.
On Friday, Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood and their allies will gather in Cairo, as will some opposition groups. On Sunday, the opposition hopes millions will heed their call. The army yesterday warned that it could take command again if the situation goes out of control.
“I am more determined than ever to go out on June 30 to demand the removal of an absolutely irresponsible president,” Khalid Dawoud, spokesman for a coalition of liberal parties, was quoted as saying after Mursi’s marathon late-night address.
In the speech marking his turbulent first year in power, Mursi warned that the “polarisation has reached a stage that could threaten our democratic experience and paralyse the nation and cause chaos”. Former foreign minister Amr Mousa also criticised Mursi for blaming the nation’s woes on street protests and strikes.
Mohammad Alaa, 21, a resident of Dubai, said that he supports June 30 “100 per cent”. “If I was in Egypt on that day I would have gone out to the streets for sure. It’s the only way.”
Though Yomna Abdul Rahim, an Abu Dhabi resident, is in favour of the protest, she is however worried about the consequences, “I am also afraid that the idea that people rise against whatever they dislike becomes a habit, and that they disobey without actually necessity and that state of law will never be enforced which is a major problem.”
