Their campaign against President Mohamed Morsi helped the army topple Egypt’s first freely elected leader, but some leaders of the Tamarud movement have broken away, saying the military threatens democracy. The split in Tamarud (Rebellion) is a sign of growing public anger against the army-backed government installed after Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi deposed Morsi in July, following a Tamarud-organised petition and mass protests against him.
Human rights groups have criticised a fierce state crackdown on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood since then, saying it includes mass arrests and torture, charges the authorities deny. “We wanted the army to help us oust Morsi, not take over power itself,” said Mohamed Fawzi, leader of a splinter faction calling itself Tamarud 2 Get Liberated, was reported as saying. “The army’s role is to protect and guard the state, not to rule.”