President Mohamed Mursi blamed “enemies of Egypt” for paralysing its new democracy in a speech on Wednesday that criticised street protests ahead of mass rallies against Islamist rule this weekend.
Earlier, two people were killed and scores wounded in the latest street clashes that many fear may presage a violent showdown this weekend, as Mursi completes his first year in office.
In his televised address, he admitted errors and offered reform but was otherwise uncompromising in his denunciation of those he blamed -some by name – for wanting to “turn the clock back” to before the 2011 revolution against Hosni Mubarak, reports Reuters.
After 90 minutes of an accomplished performance that mingled sharp words and humour, he had offered little that would persuade his opponents to call off mass rallies on Sunday that are aimed at forcing 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 Mubarak-era officials.
“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”.
Some enemies were abroad, he said, without elaborating.
Mursi acknowledged the hardships many of the young who saw hope in the revolution have had in an economy mired in crisis and offered the reforms and, in time, a higher minimum wage.
In a swipe at opponents who have failed to match his Muslim Brotherhood’s disciplined approach to winning elections, he said politicians who failed to accept his offers to cooperate had left young people with no outlet for opposition but the street.
“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.”
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 – the latest street fighting over the past few days that many fear may presage a massive showdown in the streets this weekend.
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 stand-off in the streets between Mursi’s Islamist supporters and a broad coalition of the disaffected have led people to stock up on food. Long lines of cars outside fuel stations have snarled roads in Cairo and other cities.
