Egypt’s interim rulers issued a faster than expected timetable for elections to try to drag the country out of crisis, a day after 51 people were killed when troops fired on a crowd supporting ousted President Mohamed Morsi.
The streets of Cairo were quiet on Tuesday but Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement called for more protests later in the day, raising the risk of further violence.
Under pressure to restore democracy quickly, Adli Mansour, the judge named head of state by the army when it brought down Morsi last week, decreed overnight that a parliamentary vote would be held in about six months. That would be followed by a presidential election.
In an important positive signal for the transitional authorities, the ultra-orthodox Islamist Nour Party said it would accept ex-finance minister Samir Radwan as prime minister, potentially paving the way for an interim cabinet.
The stakes were raised dramatically by the bloodshed on Monday, the worst since Morsi was toppled by the military. The army opened fire outside Cairo’s Republican Guard barracks where the deposed leader is believed to be held.
The bloodshed has also raised alarm among key donors such as the United States and the European Union, as well as in Israel, with which Egypt has had a US-backed peace treaty since 1979.
Officials said troops fired in response to an attack by armed assailants. The protesters disputed that account, insisting they were conducting peaceful dawn prayers.
“They shot us with teargas, birdshot, rubber bullets - everything. Then they used live bullets,” said Abdelaziz Abdel Shakua, a bearded 30-year-old who was wounded in his right leg.
The bloodshed shocked Egyptians, already tired of the turbulence that began 2-1/2 years ago with the overthrow of autocrat Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising. However, many Egyptians seemed to accept the official account that the troops had come under attack and had fired back.
Winning the support of Nour for a new prime minister would be an important step to show that violence has not derailed the transition. Nour is the main Islamist group apart from Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, and the authorities aim to show their transitional arrangement is acceptable to Islamists.
Radwan emerged as favorite to lead a government after Nour rejected Mohamed ElBaradei, a former UN diplomat and secularist politician.
A high level delegation from the United Arab Emirates was due to arrive in Egypt, signaling vital regional support for the military-led transitional rulers and potentially bringing a lifeline of billions of dollars in desperately-needed aid.
With turmoil driving away foreign investors and tourists, Egypt is running dangerously short of cash to provide the subsidised bread and fuel that its 84 million people rely on.
Egyptian newspapers, mainly controlled by the state or by Morsi’s opponents, described Monday’s violence as the result of terrorism by Morsi’s supporters.
Millions of people took to the streets on June 30 to demand Morsi’s resignation, fearing he was orchestrating a creeping Islamist takeover of the state.
Although Tuesday was comparatively quiet, there were minor incidents reported by late morning. Gunmen fired on a church in Port Said at the mouth of the Suez Canal overnight. Two people were wounded, medical sources said.
The Brotherhood movement has refused to have anything to do with the process, and thousands of supporters have camped out in northeast Cairo for the last five days and vowed not to budge until Morsi returns as president – a seemingly vain hope.
