Egypt’s Islamist president ordered changes to the military top brass yesterday, including the pensioning off of Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi who served Hosni Mubarak for two decades – a move that further stamps the new leader’s authority on the state.
President Mohamed Mursi also cancelled a constitutional declaration that limited presidential powers and which the ruling army council had issued in June, when voting in the election that brought Mursi to power was drawing to a close.
There had previously been much debate over the fate of 76-year-old Tantawi, who had ruled Egypt as head of the military council after Mubarak was toppled last year.
The move sidelines Tantawi, whose presence had cast a shadow over Mursi’s rule, and appeared to whittle away at the remaining powers of the military. – (Reuters)