with hundreds of thousands of protesters ready for their massive demonstrations nationwide today, millions of Egyptians are praying that their nation won't plunge into more chaos and that this nightmare will end. Protesters, whether for or against a recent decree by President Mohamed Morsi giving himself superpowers over the judiciary, have called for today's rally to stand for what both parties see as right. Clashes between those for and those against the decree have already left one killed and hundreds injured nationwide. The man in the street fears more bloodshed as the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, is mobilising thousands of supporters in Nahda Square near Cairo University in Giza, while liberal powers will gather in the iconic Tahrir Square. The liberals are headed by three former presidential candidates: Hamdeen Sabahy, leader of the Popular Stream Movement, Amr Moussa, former Secretary-General of the Arab League, and Khaled Ali. Al-Dustour (Constitution) Party, headed by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, and the April 6th Youth Movement are among several other parties and revolutionary movements taking part in the rally. "Everybody is a loser in this game. What about us, the Egyptian people? Don't we have the right to live peacefully?" wonders Hajj Rabie el-Dessouqi, a retired teacher. The decree grants the Constituent Assembly, drafting Egypt's first Constitution since the January 25 Revolution, and the Shura Council (Upper House of Parliament) immunity from being disbanded by the judiciary. The country's Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) has set December 2 to rule on the legitimacy of the Constituent Assembly and the Shura Council. But President Morsi's decree warrants that both will remain intact. In July, after he was sworn in, Morsi ordered the return of the dissolved People's Assembly (Lower House of Parliament). But less than 36 hours later, the SCC overruled his decree to reinstate the PA, citing that its decrees are binding on all state institutions. In June, the SCC ruled that the PA had to be dissolved as the parliamentary elections were "conducted illegally". "The decree is not good, but it's not bad either. There should be dialogue, in which all must take part. Why shouldn't there be a constitutional referendum like the one of last year? The people can say yes or no to what the President has decreed," Hajj Rabie told The Egyptian Mail. He was referring to last year's March 19 constitutional referendum, when 77.2 per cent of Egyptians voted ‘yes' to nine amendments. Answering a question about what he sees as positive in President Morsi's decree, Hajj Rabie said: "The retrial of Hosni Mubarak and his minions who were acquitted. Sacking the Public Prosecutor is also very positive. Isn't that what the revolutionaries have been rallying for since ousting Mubarak?" In June, Mubarak and his interior minister, Habib el-Adly, were sentenced to life in prison. Adly's six top aides were acquitted. Around 850 people were killed in the January 25 Revolution that toppled Mubarak in February 2011. "Despite its positive side, the decree is wrong as it gives the President unlimited authorities, even above the judiciary. The President should respect the law. “If he really wants justice and the retrial of the killers, why hasn't he sacked the current Interior Minister, who was head of Cairo's security when the young people were killed in Mohamed Mahmoud Street last November?" asks activist Mohamed Saad, a member of the Revolutionary Youth Union, referring to Interior Minister Ahmed Gamal Eddin. Gamal Eddin was chief of the metropolitan police when deadly clashes between central security forces and protesters erupted in Mohamed Mahmoud St, off Tahrir Square, in November 2011, leaving 40 dead and roughly 1,500 injured. "Egyptians know that Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud [the sacked Public Prosecutor] is Mubarak's man. “But what will the President do to the police who should have provided the Public Prosecution with hard evidence to condemn Mubarak and his gang? Any public prosecutor would have failed if no hard evidence had been given," Saad explains. The division over the decree sheds light on the country's “core dilemma", as activist Haitham Ibrahim says. "It is the tussle between the liberals and the Islamists, which has been going on since the formation of the Constituent Assembly. "The Islamists claim that the liberals do not want the second article of the draft constitution. They have a strong presence in rural regions, and they spread lies about liberals, describing them as infidels who hate Islam," he stresses, adding that the FJP and the Salafist Al-Nour Party used that approach to sweep parliamentary elections. In January, the FJP and Al-Nour won 47 and 25 per cent of seats in the dissolved PA respectively. The parliamentary majority ensured they have had the final say in forming the Constituent Assembly, from which liberals have withdrawn. "I'm going back to my village in Upper Egypt to avoid clashes," says Shaaban Shandaweeli, a man grilling corn on the cob near Al-Shohadaa Underground Station, formerly known as Mubarak Station. When he was told that clashes might reach his village too, his eyes were filled with horror, wondering: "O Allah where else is there to go?" Millions like Shaaban wonder what to do and where to go if the fat hits the fire.
