Mursi blasts ‘enemies’, Egypt clashes kill two

Protesters chant slogans against the president and the Muslim Brotherhood as they wait in Cairo’s Tahrir Square yesterday ahead of Mursi’s public address.

Reuters/Cairo

President Mohamed Mursi blamed “enemies of Egypt” for paralysing its new democracy in a speech yesterday that criticised street protests ahead of mass rallies against Islamist rule this weekend.

It was a televised address that admitted errors and offered reform but was otherwise uncompromising in its denunciation of those he blamed - some of them by name. Earlier, two people were killed and scores wounded in the latest factional street clashes that many fear may presage a violent showdown this weekend.

After an hour, he had offered nothing that would persuade his opponents to call off mass demonstrations they have called to demand Mursi’s resignation and new elections. The army has warned it may step in if politicians do not reconcile.

Interrupted by occasional cheers from Islamist supporters, Mursi told an audience that also included generals and officials that many of the difficulties of his first year in office were due to the continued influence of corrupt figures who had been appointed before the 2011 revolution by Hosni Mubarak.

“I took responsibility for a country mired in corruption and was faced with a war to make me fail,” he said, naming some senior officials, including the man he beat in last year’s presidential run-off, as well as neighbourhood “thugs”.

Mursi acknowledged the hardships many of the young who saw hope in the revolution have had in an economy mired in crisis and offered them reforms and, in time, a higher minimum wage.

“Political polarisation and conflict has reached a stage that threatens our nascent democratic experience and threatens to put the whole nation in a state of paralysis and chaos,” he said. “The enemies of Egypt have not spared effort in trying to sabotage the democratic experience.”

“I stand before you as an Egyptian citizen, not as the holder of an office, who is fearful for his country,” he said before saying he would review his first year in office, which began on June 30 - the date protesters have chosen to rally.

“Today, I president an audit of my first year, with full transparency, along with a road map. Some things were achieved and others not,” Mursi said, without elaborating.

 “I have made mistakes on a number of issues.”

Hours before he spoke, two people were killed and more than 200 were treated for injuries in the city of Mansoura, north of Cairo, when Islamist supporters clashed with their opponents.

Witnesses heard gunfire and state television showed a man in hospital with birdshot wounds.

The army has warned politicians it could effectively take charge again if they fail to find consensus. Some in the anti-Mursi camp might welcome that, but Islamists say they would fight any “coup” against Egypt’s first freely elected leader.

Fears of a violent standoff in the streets between Mursi’s Islamist supporters and a broad coalition of the disaffected have led people to stock up on food.