Interim leader Adly Mansour sets out plans for Egyptian elections and names interim government leaders as the country reels from the bloody clash between Islamists and the army on Monday.
Adly Mansour, the leading Egyptian judge appointed to lead the country’s interim government, named a prominent economist as prime minister, and Nobel peace prize laureate Mohammed ElBaradei as vice president.
ElBaradei, an opposition leader against the Muslim brotherhood and Mohamed Morsi, had been tipped to be appointed prime minister – but is said to have withdrawn his support to take the position in the face of opposition from the Islamist Nour Party.
Mr Mansour has also set out the timetable that it is hoped will return Egypt to its democratic path.
Under the timetable two appointed panels would be created to look at Egypt’s constitution: one, made up of judges, to come up with amendments, and the other, larger body consisting of representatives of society and political movements to debate the amendments and approve them.
Mr Mansour said the new constitution would be put to a referendum within four months, and that parliamentary elections would follow within two months after that.
Once the new parliament convenes, it would have a week to set a date for presidential elections.
The decree comes the day after 55 people were killed when the army opened fire on Islamist protestors outside the Republican Guard headquarters in Cairo.
The Muslim Brotherhood said people had been protesting peacefully outside the building where ousted president Mr Morsi is being held. The army said the facility came under attack, and that two policemen and an officer were shot.
Funerals were to be held for the 55 people killed in Cairo on Tuesday (see video, below).
On Tuesday, Mr Mansour said the first stage of elections would take place once changes had been made to Egypt’s suspended constitution.
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Refering to the constitution in the decree, Mr Mansour used some of the controversial language from the original constitution, drawn up under the Muslim Brotherhood, in what could be a move to placate islamist groups.
The Nour Party had previously withdrawn from negotiations over a new government, following the Cairo violence. Mr Mansour will be keen to keep them on side in order to show the new democratic process has Islamist support.
The Muslim Brotherhood has said it will not work with the “usurpers” who overthrew Mr Morsi.
The United Nations has said it is “gravely concerned” about mounting violence in Egypt and said the country was on a “precarious path.”
“The secretary-general condemns these killings and calls for them to be thoroughly investigated by independent and competent national bodies,” a UN statement said.
Concerns have been raised that the timetable for a new democracy is “too rushed”, and could suffer from the smae faults that the process that led to Mr Morsi’s leadership suffered from.
Nathan Brown, a leading expert on Egypt’s constitution at George Washington University in Washington, said: “It was drawn up by an anonymous committee; it was issued by executive fiat; the timetable is rushed; the provisions for consultation are vague; and it promises inclusiveness but gives no clear procedural guidelines for it.”