Departing Egypt adviser's criticism bolsters opposition
By Paul Taylor :
A highly critical letter of resignation by Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi's legal adviser has reinforced opposition charges that the Muslim Brotherhood is trying to monopolise power in the country.
Mohamed Fouad Gadalla quit on Tuesday in protest against Islamist efforts to force out thousands of judges, whom they accuse of obstructing laws and elections since the 2011 uprising that overthrew autocratic President Hosni Mubarak.
His resignation letter, published by the state-owned daily Al-Ahram, went beyond attacking what he called "the assassination of the judiciary" and levelled a series of damaging accusations against the president and the Brotherhood.
A spokesman for Mursi told a news conference the letter expressed personal opinions and the presidency would not comment on them. Mursi denies that the Brotherhood exercises influence over him. He said in an interview with Al Jazeera last week that "there was no room to talk of influence or pressure".
Gadalla, the president's longest serving adviser, listed seven reasons for quitting, including "the lack of a clear vision for managing the country and achieving the goals of the revolution", and "the monopoly of a single current on managing the transition".
He accused the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Mursi was a senior member, of shutting all other political groups out of decision-making, refusing to share responsibility or draw on experienced, efficient officials in government.
He faulted the president for refusing to fire Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, a colourless former water engineer, or strengthen a government he said was "failing politically, economically and on security".
Presidential spokesman Ehab Fahmy said Kandil would keep his job in a limited cabinet reshuffle to be announced within days to strengthen ministries' performance.
MANDATORY RETIREMENT
Gadalla said he had advised Mursi against a divisive decree last year giving himself temporary powers to override the judiciary and ram through an Islamist-tinged constitution, which triggered violent protests and polarised Egyptian politics.
In a criticism that echoed the hardline Islamist Salafist movement, the former aide also accused the president of opening up Sunni Muslim Egypt to Shi'ite influence by allowing Iranian tourists to visit the country.
Al-Ahram said Gadalla was the 11th out of 17 presidential advisers to quit or be fired since Mursi took office last July.
The secular, liberal and leftist National Salvation Front opposition alliance has accused the Islamists of a aiming to seize control of the judiciary and trampling on its independence with a draft law presented to parliament.
The bill proposed by the moderate Islamist Wasat Party, an ally of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, would impose mandatory retirement at 60 instead of 70 for all judges, forcing more than 3,000 out at a stroke.
Egyptian judges are due to hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday and demonstrations were due outside the Shura Council (upper house).
The chamber's petitions committee earlier agreed in principle to consider amendments to the existing judiciary law put forward by the Wasat party and the FJP, the state-run MENA news agency said.
The presidential spokesman repeated Mursi's pledge, after meeting the Supreme Judicial Council on Monday, to uphold the judicial independence and said the president would convene a "justice conference" with heads of the judiciary before a new law was issued.
The Muslim Brotherhood's youth wing has called for another demonstration on Friday to demand a "purification" of the judiciary.
Reuters
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