Dr. Mahmoud Ghozlan, Executive Bureau member of the Muslim Brotherhood, assured that President Mohamed Morsi’s August 12 decrees ordering the retirement of Field Marshal General Hussain Tantawi and chief of army staff General Sami Enon as well as a number of senior military generals, are wise and bold decisions that fulfil his promise to citizens in Tahrir Square that he would exercise full powers as President of the Republic. [General Tantawi is replaced by General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former head of intelligence, and General Enon by General Sidki Sobhi.]
Moreover, Ghozlan affirmed that leaders of the Military Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) evidently tried to impede the President’s powers. He also affirmed that Morsi’s decrees were revolutionary decisions the Egyptian people awaited for a long time.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s official spokesman further affirmed that SCAF generals were not fit for political interaction and duties, and that their clinging to political power hurt the homeland. Furthermore, Ghozlan called on the Egyptian people to close ranks and rally around the President at this critical phase of the country’s history.
Dr. Essam El-Erian, Acting Chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), also affirmed that President Morsi’s orders to Tantawi and Enon are courageous decisions that will help attain the goals of the revolution.
In a recent post on his Twitter account, Erian said: “The President has thus done his sovereign duty and fulfilled demands of the revolution. Every revolutionary Egyptian must now support the President to prevent any attempts to abort or undermine the revolution. This is the second wave of the Egyptian people’s Revolution. Certainly, these are bold Presidential decrees that foil counter-revolution plots, and expose the elusive third party that desperately endeavours to impede the process of democratic transition for the people of Egypt.”