An Egyptian man throws a stone during clashes between rival groups of protesters in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, April 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Mostafa Darwish)
Friday’s violent clashes in Cairo between hundreds of supporters and opponents of Egypt’s Islamist president are perhaps the most visible recent example of the escalation of the feud between the country’s ruling Muslim Brotherhood and its judiciary.
The timing of the massive street protests by Mohammed Morsi’s Islamist supporters is no coincidence: popular frustration directed at the judiciary in the wake of its April 15th court ruling ordering the release of former president Hosni Mubarak — who is on trial for his alleged responsibility in the deaths of hundreds of protesters during Egypt’s 2011 uprising — provides a convenient opening for the Morsi government to further its domestic political agenda. Especially as the country still reels from the revelations contained in a leaked report detailing the abuses perpetrated by the Mubarak regime during and after the uprising. By mobilizing around the Mubarak issue, the Brotherhood and their Islamist allies are clearly seeking to paint themselves as the true supporters of the revolution’s objectives while simultaneously attempting to discredit the main institutional impediment to the expansion of their political control. The introduction of a new bill in parliament, also on Friday, which supporters say (in typical Brotherhood doublespeak) will ”achieve independence for the judiciary” could not make the group’s strategy more plain- the proposed bill may force as many as a quarter of the country’s over 13,000 judges and prosecutors into retirement, allowing the government to replace them with its own supporters.
Egypt’s largely liberal, secular opposition now finds itself in an uncomfortable bind. While it has sought to protect the independence of the judiciary, which remains the last major bulwark against the Brotherhood’s monopolization of governmental power, supporting an institution still stacked with old regime loyalists is hardly the most politically-savvy move ahead of parliamentary elections expected later this year (which the opposition just announced it would be contesting). Another bonus point for the Brotherhood? Yes. Though depending on how the narrative around Friday’s violent clashes forms- as the violence will likely be used by the opposition to further discredit the Brotherhood’s ability to preserve stability- the entire gambit could well backfire on the Brotherhood where it actually counts- its support from its international benefactors.
