Egypt’s military moved to tighten its control of key institutions on Wednesday, putting officers in the ,newsroom of state TV, in preparation for an almost certain push to remove President Mohammed Morsi with the expiration of an afternoon deadline. Just before the military’s deadline expired, Morsi repeated a vow not to step down in the face of demands by millions of protesters in the streets in the biggest anti-government rallies the country has seen, surpassing even those in the uprising that ousted against his autocratic predecessor Hosni Mubarak.
For the second time in 2½ years of political upheaval, the powerful army appears to be positioned to remove the country’s leader. But this time, it would be ousting a democratically elected president, the first in Egypt’s history — making its move potentially explosive. The military on Monday had given Morsi an ultimatum to meet the protesters’ demands within 48 hours, or it would intervene and impose a plan to suspend the constitution, dissolve parliament and replace him with a leadership council. That deadline expired on Wednesday afternoon.
Morsi’s Islamist supporters have vowed to resist what they call a coup against democracy, and have also taken to the streets by the tens of thousands. At least 39 people have been killed in clashes since Sunday, raising fears of further bloodshed. Soon after the deadline passed, a military helicopter circled over the anti-Morsi crowds in Tahrir Square, which was transformed into a sea of furiously waving Egyptian flags. “leave, leave,” they chanted to Morsi.
Earlier in the day, the head of the Army, Defence Minister Gen Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, met leading reform advocate Mohammed ElBaradei, Egypt’s top Muslim cleric — Al-Azhar Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb — and Coptic Pope Tawadros II to discuss a road map, a spokesman for opposition National Democratic Front said.