TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Egypt's armed forces gave an ultimatum to President Mohamed Morsi to share power on Monday. They gave Morsi 48 hours to compromise, or have the army impose its own road map to save the country.
The statement, which was broadcasted in state television, said that Egypt was in danger after million of people went to the streets on Monday. They demanded Morsi to step down and the headquarters of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood to be ransacked.
"If the demands of the people are not realized within the defined period, it will be incumbent upon (the armed forces) to announce a road map for the future," Egypt's military chief of staff, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, said in the statement.
The Military said they would supervise what Morsi would do in the next 48 hours, and demanded the president to involve all stakeholders, including all factions of political parties and youth organizations.
The intervention of the generals, as reported by Reuters, was responded positively by protesters in street. People in Tahrir Squre cheered as a helicopter swooped overhead trailing national flags.
On the other hand, Morsi's allies were outraged. "The age of military coups is over," said the Brotherhood's Yasser Hamza. Mohamed El-Beltagy said Islamists would go to the streets to show their strength. Morsi himself had not give any response.
Since the fall of Hosni Mubarak two years ago, the Arab region's most populous nation has remained in turmoil. The events have caused concern in its Western allies and its neighboring country, Israel, with which Egypt has had a peace treaty since 1979.
REUTERS | TRIP B
