On Tuesday afternoon, tens of thousands of demonstrators took the streets of Cairo to protest against the constitutional declaration issued by the president Mohammed Morsi last Thursday, that grants him sweeping powers until a new constitution is written and parliamentary elections are held.
Currently, Morsi holds legislative and executive powers, and on Thursday he decided to neutralize the judiciary branch as well. This fact has granted him nicknames such as “the new Pharaoh”, the “dictator”, “Morsilini” or the “Führer”.
Opposition to the decree turned into an outburst of fury and disappointment against the growing power of the Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood and its most important representative in the government, the president.
The crowd of demonstrators in Tahrir Square grew since the morning until sunset, when big marches from different points of Cairo arrived to the iconic square. The protests were the biggest in Egypt since the new president took power, asking for the overthrowing of the new autocratic decree and, in some cases, for the ousting of the president.
The protests were peaceful in Tahrir, with people chanting against Morsi and the Brotherhood. However, in the outskirts of the square clashes happened between groups of protesters and the police. A man was reported to have died in the clashes, after inhaling tear gas.
In Alexandria, Mansoura and Mahalla, big clashes took place between anti-Morsi protesters and Muslim Brotherhood supporters. The Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in at least two cities were attacked and set on fire. According to the reports, Security Forces did not intervene to stop the violence.
Despite the massive number of anti-Morsi protesters in Cairo, the official Twitter account of the Muslim Brotherhood clearly dismissed the importance of the demonstrations, stating the “low turnout” in the square and calling the people in the streets “pro-Mubarak felols”.
Morsi insisted on the temporary character of his decree, but two years after the spark of the revolution people do not want to be silent anymore.