Mr Morsi’s grab for power

Buoyed by the praise he won for his role in getting a ceasefire in the conflict over Gaza, Mr Morsi has, in effect, carried out a coup similar to that staged by Egypt's Free Officers movement in 1952, which ushered in decades of dictatorship. At a stroke, he has decreed that all constitutional declarations and laws made by him since he assumed power four months ago cannot be appealed against in any way or by any entity and deemed that the president may take the necessary actions to protect the country and the goals of the revolution without challenge.

Mr Morsi's intentions are clear. He wants to thwart action in the courts aimed at disbanding, for the second time, an assembly charged with writing a new post-Mubarak constitution. Not surprisingly, many Egyptians - including those hopeful idealists who crowded in Tahrir Square to oust Mr Mubarak and establish a liberal democracy - see Mr Morsi's move as a blatant attempt to keep the assembly in business, despite the constitutional challenges mounted against it, so it can write an Islamist constitution for Egypt that will entrench the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies in power, thereby ensuring the supremacy of sharia. It is no wonder that demonstrators are again back in Tahrir Square, while Muslim Brotherhood offices across Egypt are under attack.

Mr Morsi's bid for untrammelled power is a betrayal of all that the Arab Spring and Tahrir Square demonstrations were about. He should think again. Over Gaza, he showed signs of statesmanship that augured well for the role Egypt plays in the Middle East. By contrast, his actions in riding roughshod over Egypt's hopes for democracy are those of a leader who can hardly claim to be much better than the predecessor he now wants to put on trial all over again. It will be a pity if Mr Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood are allowed to get away with it. After having suffered dictatorship for so long, Egypt's democratic hopes deserves better than this shoddy grab for power by the country's Islamists.