Cairo: Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi, facing military-backed calls for him to resign, on Tuesday night peppered a televised speech with a record 74 mentions of the word “legitimacy” to justify his insistence on staying in office.
In the 45-minute speech, Mursi vowed to protect “legitimacy” with his life.
“My life is the price of preserving legitimacy. I will not allow any one to talk about violating legitimacy,” he said. “If the price of defending is my blood, I am ready for this. I am the guard of legitimacy,” he added.
“Don’t give up legitimacy not for me, but for Egypt,” Mursi said, addressing millions of Egyptians who took to the streets this week demanding that he step down.
“Abiding by legitimacy is the way that protects us from entering into a narrow, dark tunnel,” he said.
Mursi became Egypt’s first democratically elected president in June last year. The secular opposition accuses him of incompetence and tightening his Muslim Brotherhood group’s hold on power.
“By excessively using the word ‘legitimacy’, Mursi sought to boost the morale of his supporters, who have been camping out in several areas for days now,” said Salama Hamad, a psychiatrist.
“Mursi is fighting a final battle on behalf of the Brotherhood and their Islamist allies, who are not ready for a defeat. So he made every effort to appear self-confident and sure of the strength of his position,” Hamad told Gulf News.
“At the same time, Mursi wanted to send a message to the West whose support for him as an elected president has wavered in recent days.”
Hamad cited what he called the “Mubarak factor” in Mursi’s speech when the Islamist leader, like his predecessor, warned that toppling him would plunge Egypt into chaos.
“I tell everyone that the one who wants non-legitimacy will suffer and will drag the country into a very bad direction,” a stern-looking Mursi said on Tuesday.
Scoffing at Mursi’s overuse of ‘legitimacy’, opposition protesters likened him to an unwanted husband who insists on keeping a miserable marriage at any cost.
“I don’t want your legitimacy. don’t want this marriage,” said anti-Mursi protester Tahani Barakat.
“Just I want divorce!” she added sarcastically.
