The United States is treading warily amid Egypt's politicalcrisis, uncertain how the struggle between President Mohamed Morsi's Islamistsupporters and the opposition will play out in its key ally. Top US officialshave voiced fears of a return to the authoritarian days of ousted presidentHosni Mubarak, but stopped short of an outright condemnation of Morsi's recentactions denounced by the opposition as a grab for power.
Up to 2,000 people demonstrated in front of the presidentialpalace in Cairo aiming to scuttle a draft constitution being pushed by Morsiand his Islamist backers before the second round of a controversial referendum.The opposition has denounced the document, written largely by Islamists,arguing it weakens human rights protections, particularly for women, and setsthe stage for a creeping advance towards Islamic sharia law.
Washington has called on Egyptian authorities to allowdemonstrations to go ahead, but urged that they should remain peaceful. AndState Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland refused to comment on last week'sfirst round of the referendum, with unofficial tallies showing 57 percent ofpeople in Cairo and nine other regions had backed the draft charter. "Ithink we're not going to opine as a government on the process until the processis completed," Nuland told journalists. She acknowledged however thatWashington had heard of some voting irregularities and urged the electoralcommission to investigate every complaint.
The US administration has shown remarkable caution since thestart of the political crisis in late November when Morsi issued a decreegranting himself wide presidential powers. Morsi rescinded the decree followingglobal pressure. The US did not join the chorus of protest, but did voiceconcerns over what it called "legitimate questions" about theconstitutional process. "We don't want to see any return to the bad olddays of the Mubarak era in terms of security practices," Nuland stressed,calling on the military to show restraint during demonstrations. She alsodirectly called on Morsi "as the first democratically elected leader ofEgypt, to lead the effort before, during and after the voting to continue totry to build a national consensus." US officials are caught betweenwanting to support a broad movement for change while insisting the Egyptianpeople must chart the course of their own democracy, and worrying "thepromise of the revolution" could be lost.
