QUESTIONS REMAIN ABOUT MORSI'S AUTHORITY

While a new constitution, the economy and security will remain top priorities for the new administration of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, Yasser Ali, a Morsi spokesman, said that the president’s key concern was political stability. Field Marshal Tantawi, head of the military-led Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) that still wields most of the power in Egypt, said that the military would “stand by the elected, legitimate president and will cooperate with him for the stability of the country.” However, many questions remain about Morsi’s actual authority and ability to rule after recent decrees issued by the SCAF. These included giving arrest authority back to Egyptian soldiers, dissolving the new parliament , returning legislative powers to the SCAF and reinforcing the military body’s role in the drafting of a permanent constitution, putting Egypt’s national security policy firmly back in the hands of the SCAF. Ehmad Abdel-Ghaffour, head of the ultra-conservative Islamist al-Nour party, told the Associated Press that although the presidential election had eased tensions, there was still a great deal of negotiations ahead between the Islamist parties and the SCAF on the new president’s powers. (BBC—June 25, 2012)