Egypt’s chief justice is new president, Morsi aides arrested

As fighter jets flew and fireworks burst over celebrations in Cairo, Egyptian military police rounded up members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the group of ousted president Mohamed Morsi. The brotherhood, banned under former president Hosni Mubarak, catapulted to power after the uprising in 2011. New York Times calls the change of power in Egypt a military coup wrapped in a popular revolt, bringing to the fore the division between the Muslim Brotherhood and the security apparatus built Mubarak. The interim president, the chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adli Mansour, says he looks forward to parliamentary and presidential elections that would express the “true will of the people.” It is still unclear what political structure will emerge from the power-grab. In an interview with the New York Times, Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel Prize-winning diplomat who represents the liberal opposition calls it a chance to fix the transition to democracy that had gone off track. Morsi’s government crumbled Wednesday after a 48-hour ultimatum from the army in the face of massive demonstrations against his leadership. What did Morsi’s government do wrong? New York Times quotes Nathan Brown on the New Republican website: “They alienated potential allies, ignored rising discontent, (and) focused more on consolidating their rule.” Morsi’s opponents say he failed the 2011 revolution by concentrating power in the hands of his Brotherhood.

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