On November 30 the Constituent Assembly approved a draft constitution written by Islamists without the input of boycotting Christian and secularist members. The two did little to dispel the assertions of critics that Mr. Shater and the Brotherhoods board would wield the true power in a Morsi government. But as he rose in the leadership, he gained a reputation as a conservative enforcer, known for discouraging dissent. Although Morsi began his presidency in a state of apparent subordination to the interim military government of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, he moved to take the upper hand in mid-August, announcing the retirement of several senior members of the council and revoking the constitutional declaration of June 17. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mohamed-Morsi, GlobalSecurity.org - Biography of Mohamed Morsi, Mohammed Morsi - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Mohamed Morsi, the candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood, was declared the winner of the Egyptian presidential election on Sunday. And Morsi himself, also deeply flawed, was a product of that brief experiment. He was removed from the presidency by a military action in July 2013, following massive demonstrations against his rule. We want to send a message to every party to make them realize that Islamists are not seeking to dominate the power. The following week, as rumors swirled that the Brothers had changed their minds, Rashad el-Bayoumi, a member of the organizations Guidance Bureau, denied that there had been a shift in policy. It was no surprise that even in a climate of unprecedented political openness the Brothers continued to behave like trauma victims. Worsening economic conditions, deteriorating public services, and a string of sectarian incidents exacerbated political polarization and strengthened opposition to Morsis rule. It was significant that this was one of the Brothers first acts in the new era. Ad Choices. When peaceful protesters gathered around the Presidential palace, a number of Brothers and their supporters attacked the crowd violently, in what turned out to be the final straw for many Egyptians.

He becomes Egypts fifth president and the first from outside the military. Of the six, three were removed by coup and subsequently spent time in prison or under house arrest. He referred to Israels citizens as killers and vampires, and he declared that neither a woman nor a non-Muslim should be allowed to serve as Egypts President. During that time he also worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on the development of engines for the space shuttle program. Mohamed Morsi, who served as the President of the Republic of Egypt for a year and four days before being removed from office by a military coup, died in an Egyptian courtroom on Monday. We want the drainage systems to be Islamic!. Mursi had cited fear of judgment day as one reason for seeking the top office. With Islamist parties largely neutered and an economy still in freefall, Sisi cemented his power, suppressing dissent and restoring Egypt to the kind of military-backed system of government that Mursi hoped to have ended for good. Under Sisi, the crackdown on Islamists and other political opponents has been far more severe than anything that had happened during the days of Mubarak. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. The campaign for president in the spring of 2012 took place in a chaotic, uncertain Egypt. Mubarak also cracked down on the Islamists. Journalists werent allowed to bring cell phones, cameras, or audio recorders, but I still recall the sound of the deposed Presidents voice. His campaign rallies could be unsettling. They never made an effort to reach out and gain new political allies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Mursi promised a moderate Islamist agenda to steer Egypt into a new democratic era where autocracy would be replaced by transparent government that respected human rights and revived the fortunes of a powerful Arab state long in decline. He was celebrating, he said, but not because he supported Mr. Morsi. And its unlikely that Morsi will provide the inspiration of a martyr, because the legacy of political Islam in Egypt is so damaged. He said: We are worried that God will ask us, on the Day of Reckoning: What did you do when you saw that the nation was in need of sacrifice and effort?. A how-to guide for managing the end of the post-Cold War era. He also established himself as a social conservative, calling for the government to place tighter restrictions on entertainment that he considered indecent. Although Morsi defended the edict as a necessary measure to protect Egypts transition to democracy, mass demonstrations were held against what many saw as a seizure of dictatorial powers. The decree also removed the courts power to dissolve the Constituent Assembly, a 100-member body responsible for drafting a new constitution, and opened the way for the retrial of officials implicated in violence against protesters during the uprising against Mubarak. Mr. Morsi, 60, an American-trained engineer and former lawmaker, is the first Islamist elected as head of an Arab state. On July 3, 2013, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who had been appointed minister of defense by Morsi himself, led the military takeover. In 2016 an Egyptian court overturned Morsis death sentence and the life sentence against him for conspiring with foreign groups and ordered a retrial. Over and over, he bellowed, Ana ra'is al-gomhoriyya! Brotherhood leaders eventually rejected such tactics, adopting the principle of nonviolence, but their reputation remained tainted by this early history.

He was not a strategic thinker. It was largely in response to police abuses that the initial protesters gathered on Tahrir in 2011. Since Bayoumis release, he had worked in a marble quarry in a settlement outside Cairo, called Sadat City. The Muslim Brotherhood was formally outlawed in September. CAIRO (Reuters) - When Mohamed Mursi, a leader of Egypts Muslim Brotherhood, broke out of jail during the final days of Hosni Mubaraks presidency in 2011, he little imagined that the following year he would be president and, another year on, behind bars again.

He rose to prominence in the wake of the Arab Spring, when tens of thousands of protesters flooded Tahrir Square, demanding the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak. The Brotherhoods original candidate for president was the businessman Khairat al-Shater, towering in his physical presence, preternaturally confident, and perhaps overwhelmed by ambition. Experimental evidence of the coup taboo, What Anwar Sadats murder 40 years ago meant for the Middle East, How Western policymakers can engage the new Arab diasporas. Read all the Order from Chaos content, On Jamal Khashoggi, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United States Differ on Meaning of Democracy, Whats in a name? Long live the revolution.. A youth movement called Tamarud - rebellion in Arabic - began a petition calling for Mursi to step down. 2022 Cond Nast. The 2012 Presidential election was the first in Egyptian history to be free from corruption and outright manipulation, but it was hardly reassuring. It was a frustrating fate for a conservative Islamist who was wary of the temptations of music.

Beaming Brotherhood supporters streamed in, swelling the crowd to perhaps 100,000 by nightfall. Supposedly, Bayoumi had supplied the firing pins for the weapons that shot Sadat, although he refused to confirm this to me. American officials and diplomats say the United States supported only the democratic process, regardless of the elections result. And so Morsi, derided in the Egyptian media as Shaters spare tire, became the accidental candidate and then the accidental president. For much of Sunday, the capital was tense with apprehension that the panel of Mubarak-appointed judges overseeing the election might annul the ballot count and declare Mr. Shafik the president, completing a full military coup. I asked if the Brotherhood would field a candidate for the nations highest office. He was many, but not all, of the things his critics derided him for. Morsi was subsequently appointed to the Muslim Brotherhoods Guidance Bureau, the organizations highest executive body. Smiling riot police officers put down their helmets to exchange congratulations with bearded protesters. During this time Morsi pressed the government to enact political reform, calling for the lifting of repressive measures, including the emergency law, which granted the police unlimited powers of arrest and detention, and laws limiting the formation of political parties. And most incidents of terrorism have occurred in the remote Sinai Peninsula, rather than in the heavily populated Upper Egypt, which was a cradle of radical Islam during earlier generations. Down, down with military rule!. Official reaction in Israel was muted; Israeli officials have watched events in Egypt with trepidation over the past year and a half, reflecting concern that a new government would reassess the peace treaty that Egypts generals have long honored. He looked old and tired. Morsi wasntmeantto be president. Mohamed Morsi was born in Al-Sharqiyyah governorate, on the eastern side of the Nile delta. Omissions? Updates? On August 14, 2013, security forces in Cairo massacred as many as a thousand Morsi supporters, the vast majority of whom were unarmed. Morsis first major foreign policy success came in November 2012, when he garnered international praise for helping to broker a cease-fire in a weeklong conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Mubaraks ouster cleared the way for the Muslim Brotherhood to participate openly in Egyptian politics, and to that end the group formed the Freedom and Justice Party. He spoke of a simple childhood in a village in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya, recalling how his mother taught him prayer and the Koran. He granted cops increasing degrees of leeway, until they could essentially terrorize civilians without repercussions. He seemed a man particularly unsuited for the responsibility bestowed upon him. But this had little to do with Morsi. After that, they put forward Morsi, whom the press immediately nicknamed al-stebn, the spare tire, because he was rolled out like an extra wheel.