President Mohamed Morsi would have saved his presidency and the future of his Muslim Brotherhood (MB) if he had called for a referendum on the draconian measures he ostensibly wrapped in constitutional green velvet. By deciding to address only a mass rally of Islamists in Heliopolis and ignoring the protesters in Tahrir Square and elsewhere, President Morsi widened the gulf between Islamists and the moderate Muslims, who constitute the majority in society. In his speech in Heliopolis, President Morsi said that his seizure of absolute power would be over after the parliament elections in four months' time. He added that his decision was unavoidable if he wanted to save the revolution and its aspirations. The president declared: “The new constitutional declaration will put Egypt on the path of freedom and democracy." He also told the agitated supporters that his new constitutional powers would help him achieve political, social and economic stability. Morsi's speech in Heliopolis did not prevent violent reactions across the country by his former supporters in the presidential election (political parties, youth movements and liberals). Offices of the MB's Freedom and Justice Party in different towns were attacked, ransacked or torched. Heliopolis became an Islamist fortress, while anti-MB forces gathered in Tahrir Square, which is globally known as the epicentre of the January 25 Revolution. President Morsi's agitating speech and tough attack on the opposition must also have deepened the long-standing mistrust between MB-led Islamists and their traditional foes – liberals, secularists, leftists and loyalists of Morsi's three predecessors. The Coptic Church is watching carefully and nervously the developments following the president's constitutional rebellion. However, the biggest casualty of Morsi granting himself absolute power is his own organisation, the Muslim Brotherhood, and its Islamist associates, including the Salafists. President Morsi's keenness to address his supporters in Heliopolis could indicate that he decided to sever his relationship with former supporters in Tahrir Square, who rallied behind him in the presidential election. Without their support Morsi would not have defeated his tough rival Ahmed Shafiq, who was Mubarak's last prime minister. The president exclusively addressing the Islamists in Heliopolis also gives every possible indication that the MB are deeply worried that Morsi's former supporters in Tahrir Square might want to take the presidency away from him. The president's miscalculated constitutional decree will make Egypt pay a higher price than ever before to stop the spreading fire Egypt is bound to witness. The raging fire will burn everybody, including the president, the MB, Salafists and ordinary citizens. Since the ousting of president Hosni Mubarak and his iron-fisted regime on February 11 last year, Egypt has been violently thrown into economic and social instability. The nation's feeble hope to survive was rekindled when a candidate belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood was elected as Mubarak's successor. Celebrating his presidential victory in May, Morsi went to Tahrir Square and told hundreds of thousands of people personally present (and millions of television viewers) that he would be the president of all Egyptians, and that Egypt had forever bidden farewell to the era of dictatorship. In addition to winning the first free and transparent presidential election in decades, Morsi added another ground-breaking record: he is the first non-military man to rule Egypt in more than 200 years. Since an Albanian commander of the Ottoman army, Mohamed Ali Pasha, seized power in 1805, Egypt was ruled by military men. Ali Pasha's descendants, who inherited Egypt's throne, were constitutionally the supreme commanders of the Egyptian army. The monarchy was toppled by a group of military officers in 1952. President Hosni Mubarak, who was removed by mass demonstrations between January 25 and February 11 last year, was the last military man in the presidential office. Regardless of the historical records, President Morsi decided to act like a military ruler and tighten his grip on the nation. But will Morsi's draconian measures save the sinking ship?
