Egypt's divide over Morsi's presidential decree continues to ferment

 CAIRO, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's domestic divisions over a series of controversial presidential decrees continued to ferment¹ as the nation's Judges' Club on Saturday called for a strike of all courts and prosecutors⁴ across the country.

Morsi decided⁵ on Thursday to replace Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud with Talat Ibrahim Abdullah as the new prosecutor³ general.

He also issued a constitutional declaration, which rules that all laws, decrees and constitutional declarations issued by the president since he came into office on June 30 are final and unchallengeable by any body.

Morsi's actions, which would shield the president from judicial⁶ review until a new parliament is elected in an election expected early next year, has triggered controversies⁷ among political parties and the general public, as well as violence in the streets.

During its extraordinary general assembly on Saturday, the Judges' Club, a body representing judges across Egypt, tried to enforce Morsi to cancel the newly-issued presidential decree, the official MENA news agency reported.

Mahmoud said at the meeting the presidential decree that sacked him aimed at disturbing the judicial power, and he will resort to justice on Morsi's order.

Ahmed al-Zend, the head of the club, reiterated⁸ the club's rejection⁹ of the new constitutional declaration and its enforcement.

Echoing the judges, civil groups led by former IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, and ex-presidential candidates Hamdeen Sabbahi, Amr Mussa and Abdelmoneim Abul Futuh, said there would be no dialogue with Morsi until the decree is rescinded¹⁰.

"We refuse any dialogue with the president until he cancels the constitutional declaration," according to a joint¹¹ statement read out at a news conference.

Also opposing the decree, the Egyptian Supreme¹² Council of Justice said on Thursday that the declaration launched an "unprecedented¹³ attack" on judicial independence, the official al-Ahram website reported.

The judicial council asked the president to keep the declaration away from touching¹⁴ the judicial power and its authorities, or interfering¹⁵ the affairs of its members and its "dignified¹⁶ rulings."

Meanwhile, supporters and opponents of Morsi's controversial moves planned to stage their separate rallies on Tuesday.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood¹⁷ (MB), the president's powerbase, on Saturday called for a rally on Tuesday to support Morsi and his new constitutional declaration.

In a statement on its official website, the Islamic group called for a massive demonstration¹⁸ on Tuesday in the Abidin square near downtown Cairo, to defend Morsi's decisions to "fulfill¹⁹ the people's desire."

The MB has also tried to seek endorsement²⁰ for Morsi's decisions in public squares across the country Sunday evening.

At least three MB offices were attacked during Friday's fierce clashes across the country. The MB said some of the protestors who are against the decree were rioters, and did not respect the majority's will.

Meanwhile, the liberal, leftist and socialist²¹ parties also called on Saturday for a protest in the iconic Tahrir square of central Cairo on Tuesday.

They intended to call on the Morsi administration to revoke²² the new declaration, dissolve the Constitutional Assembly (CA), convene²³ national dialogue, set up a new constitution-writing body, sack Prime Minister Hisham Qandil and reshuffle the Interior Ministry²⁴.

On Friday, thousands of demonstrators, headed by the April 6 movement, Revolutionary Youth Coalition²⁵ and Kefaya movement, along with other liberal parties, flood to Tahrir square for the "anger and warning" rally to protest the new constitutional declaration.

Some 227 people were injured during the violent clashes at Tahrir Square between the police and protesters, according to a statement released by the health ministry, adding that some 45 injured are still in hospitals.

A security source was quoted by MENA as saying that 128 police were injured in the clash, and so far 259 rioters were arrested in the recent incidents.

The demonstrations²⁶ also swept other provinces like Alexandria, Suez and Ismaelia, where clashes erupted between camps pro² and anti president's decisions.

The Tahrir square was prevailed by relative calm on Saturday morning, while some political groups against the declaration have set up some 20 tents at the square to start their open-ended sit-in.

Egypt's liberal forces and the Coptic have long accused Islamists, who make up almost half of CA, of dominating the writing of the constitution. They fear that it will produce a draft constitution that does not meet the aspirations²⁷ of most Egyptians.

Meanwhile, some Islamists, who are mainly salafists, accuse the Coptic and liberals of depriving their inborn²⁸ right to live under the complete ruling of Islamic Sharia and the rulings and regulations of Prophet Mohammed.

Morsi's decree would mean that CA could stay unchanged and is given a two-month extension to complete its work.

1 ferment   

vt.使发酵；n./vt.（使）激动，（使）动乱

参考例句：

• Fruit juices ferment if they are kept a long time.果汁若是放置很久，就会发酵。
• The sixties were a time of theological ferment.六十年代是神学上骚动的时代。

2 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

3 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

4 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

7 controversies   

争论

参考例句：

• We offer no comment on these controversies here. 对于这些争议，我们在这里不作任何评论。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon. 围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。 来自辞典例句

8 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

9 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

10 rescinded   

v.废除，取消( rescind的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Rescinded civil acts shall be null and void from the very beginning. 被撤销的民事行为从行为开始起无效。 来自互联网
• They accepted his advice and rescinded the original plan. 他们听从了他的劝告，撤销了原计划。 来自互联网

11 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

12 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

13 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

14 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

15 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

16 dignified   

a.可敬的，高贵的

参考例句：

• Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中，他始终沉默以保持尊严。
• He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。

17 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

18 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

19 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

20 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

21 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

22 revoke   

v.废除，取消，撤回

参考例句：

• The university may revoke my diploma.大学可能吊销我的毕业证书。
• The government revoked her husband's license to operate migrant labor crews.政府撤销了她丈夫管理外来打工人群的许可证。

23 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。

24 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

25 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

26 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

27 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

28 inborn   

adj.天生的，生来的，先天的

参考例句：

• He is a man with an inborn love of joke.他是一个生来就喜欢开玩笑的人。
• He had an inborn talent for languages.他有语言天分。