Crisis in Egypt: Here's all you need to know about it

Egypt’s first democratically elected president was overthrown by the military Wednesday, after just one year in office by the same kind of Arab Spring uprising that brought the Islamist leader to power.

The armed forces announced they would install a temporary civilian government to replace Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, who denounced the action as a “full coup” by the generals. They also suspended the Islamist-drafted constitution and called for new elections.

Millions of anti-Morsi protesters around the country erupted in celebrations after the televised announcement by the army chief. Fireworks burst over crowds in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, where men and women danced, shouting, “God is great” and “Long live Egypt.”

Why the Army ousted Morsi Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood and their harder-line allies say they played by the rules of democracy, only to be forced out by opponents who could not play it as well as them at the ballot box and so turned to the military for help. The lesson that the Islamists’ extreme fringe may draw: Democracy, which many of them viewed as “kufr” or heresy to begin with, is rigged and violence is the only way to bring their dream of an Islamic state.

But to the millions of Egyptians who marched in the street against Morsi, the Islamists failed at democracy: They overreached.

The protesters became convinced the Islamists were using wins at the polls to centralize power in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood far beyond their mandate and treat the country as if it accepted the “Islamist project.” Even worse, for many of the protesters, the Islamists were simply not fixing Egypt’s multiple and worsening woes.

The army had also grown increasingly alarmed about Morsi dragging Egypt into the sectarian conflict in Syria and the turnout on the streets gave armed forces chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi his justification for handing the president a 48-hour deadline to share power or lose it. Read more here.

What the military chief said Lt. Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi addressing the nation on Egyptian State Television said that the armed forces couldn’t plug its ears or close its eyes as the movement and demands of the masses calling for them to play a national role, not a political role as the armed forces themselves will be the first to proclaim that they will stay away from politics.

The armed forces sensed — given their sharp vision — that the people sought their support, not power or rule but for general services and necessary protection of the demands of the revolution. This is the message that the armed forces received from all over urban Egypt, its cities, and its villages; it (the military) recognized the invitation, understood its intentions, appreciated its necessity and got closer to the national scene hoping, willing and abiding by all limits of duty, responsibility and honesty.

There was hope of achieving national reconciliation, developing a future plan and providing causes of confidence, assurances and stability to the people in order to achieve their ambitions and hopes. But the president’s speech last night and before the end of the 48-hour ultimatum didn’t meet or agree with the demands of the people. The situation prompted the armed forces, given their national and historic responsibility, to consult with some of the symbols of the national, political and youth forces without excluding or alienating anyone. The participants agreed on the future plan, which includes the initial steps to achieve a strong, coherent Egyptian society that doesn’t alienate of its sons and movements and end the state of struggle and divisions.

El-Sissi further said that top judge of Egypt’s Constitutional Court, Adli Mansour would be sworn in as the interim President. Read more here.

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How Mohammed Morsi has reacted

Mohamed Morsi has said he is still the legitimate president of Egypt, while the Muslim Brotherhood, to which Morsi is affiliated, described the ouster of the president by the military as “betrayal”.

“There is no alternative for legitimacy, the constitution or the law,” Xinhua quoted Morsi as saying in a pre-recorded statement broadcast by the Al Jazeera news channel.

Morsi’s statement came after the military assigned the chief of the Supreme Constitutional Court to temporarily run the country until a new president is elected.

“I am ready to sit with everyone for dialogue and negotiation,” Morsi said, adding that changing legitimacy every few months means “disorder”.

Morsi, according to various reports, has been moved to an undisclosed location. Read more here.

How are Morsi’s supporters reacting? Some of Morsi’s Islamist backers, tens of thousands of whom took to the streets in recent days, have vowed to fight to the end, although he urged everyone “to adhere to peacefulness and avoid shedding blood of fellow countrymen.”

“Down with the rule of the military!” some of them chanted after el-Sisi’s speech, reviving a chant used by leftist revolutionaries during the nearly 17 months of direct military rule that followed Mubarak’s removal.

El-Sisi, the military chief, warned that the armed forces and police would deal “decisively” with violence.

Who will head Egypt now?

With president Mohamed Morsi being variously described as ‘deposed’ and ‘disgraced’ by the Egyptian army, the leadership of the country has at the moment been taken over by Adly Mansour, who was sworn-in as interim president on Thursday.

Though the army is promising that democratic elections will take place soon, it could be some time till that happens since pro-Morsi Egyptians form at least 25% of the population, and they are making their voices heard in street protests as well. Till then, the 67-year-old Mansour is leading the country through a very volatile period.

Who is Adly Mansour? Mansour had been the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court only for two days when he was promoted to being the leader of Egypt by the army. Mansour was, in fact, elected by Morsi himself to the top judicial post. Since the constitution has now been suspended by the army, that post has now catapulted him from holding immense judicial power to holding immense political power.

It’s not known exactly what Mansour’s beliefs are, or how aligned he is with the military, which has controlled the government for the larger part of the twentieth century in Egypt. But the court in Egypt is known to be largely neutral, as Mark Lynch pointed out in this column for Foreign Policy:

“The Court, created in its current form in 1979, built a record in the 1980s and 1990s that earned it international attention for activism on several fronts, especially its willingness to take the vague human rights provisions of Egypt’s constitutional text and give them real meaning,” wrote Lynch. “The Court also took an assertive role in several hot political issues, such as the role of Islamic law and election administration.” Read more here.

How the world reacted to Morsi’s ouster President Barack Obama urged Egypt’s military Wednesday to hand back control to a democratic, civilian government without delay, but stopped short of calling the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi a coup.

In a carefully worded statement, Obama said he was “deeply concerned” by the military’s move to topple Morsi’s government and suspend Egypt’s constitution. He said he was ordering the U.S. government to assess what the military’s actions meant for US foreign aid to Egypt.

“I now call on the Egyptian military to move quickly and responsibly to return full authority back to a democratically elected civilian government as soon as possible through an inclusive and transparent process, and to avoid any arbitrary arrests of President Morsi and his supporters,” Obama said.

The United Arab Emirates, one of the Arab world’s most outspoken critics of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, is expressing support for the Egyptian military for ousting the Islamist-led government of Mohammed Morsi.

A statement Thursday by the official news agency WAM noted “satisfaction” in the removal of Egypt’s president after days of massive street protests in Cairo and elsewhere.

In neighboring Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah sent a congratulations message to the head of the Egypt’s Constitutional Court.

Among wealthy Gulf Arab states, only Qatar has close Brotherhood ties.

Military crack-down on media channels

Egypt’s military-led authorities shut down three Islamist-run TV stations on Wednesday including one operated by the Muslim Brotherhood after President Mohamed Mursi was toppled by the army, drawing a statement of concern from a press freedom watchdog.

The security forces also raided the offices of Al Jazeera‘s Egyptian news channel and detained at least five of its staff, said Karim El-Assiuti, one of its journalists. Four of them were later released, the channel said. Read more here.

Timeline: Key events in Egypt’s uprising and unrest

With agency inputs