Egyptians accuse President Morsi of rewriting rules of democracy

Others disagree that the move was the only way to get around Morsy's challenges.  "There were other ways to do it," says Hellyer. "But they would require the Brotherhood to believe that they needed to get consensus from other political forces to carry it out. They think that since they won the presidential election, they have a blank check to go around due process in order to do whatever they think is best for the country."

Morsi's slim electoral margin does not give him the popular legitimacy he needs to enact such exceptional measures, Hellyer says.

"To get around due process, you need legitimacy that comes from overwhelming popular support. Considering Mr. Morsi only just barely won the presidency, that legitimacy is dubious – he seems to be hoping to just get his way regardless.”

FJP: Our opinions 'matter more'

Many of the protesters in Tahrir Friday supported Morsi's move to fire the prosecutor general, considered a corrupt Mubarak loyalist. "We demanded this a long time ago," said Mr. Abd Rabou, the protester. "Why did he do it now? He gives us some honey with the poison."  

Nathan Brown, a professor at George Washington University, says such exceptional measures were not the only way to reform the judiciary. There were provisions in the new draft constitution which would have allowed the prosecutor general, who previously served a life term, to be dismissed. The main problem of the judiciary is not its structure, but personnel -- such as the regime loyalists that Mubarak and his predecessor, Sadat, placed in key positions. That could have been reformed gradually, he says.

Instead, the decision removes what had been a check, however faulty, on executive power, and sets up a confrontation with the judiciary. "It gives the judiciary right now, and especially the Constitutional Court, a very, very stark choice. They can basically ignore this, in which case in a sense any long term prospect of judicial oversight over the executive is greatly undermined, or they can pick a full confrontation, do something like try to overturn this constitutional declaration," says Dr. Brown. "And that sets Egypt on an absolute collision course – a full constitutional crisis between a president who says 'I can do anything I want,' and a court that says 'No you can't and we can stop you.'" 

The former prosecutor general, Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud, rejected his dismissal in a press conference today and vowed to continue his work. And Egypt's highest judicial authority, the Supreme Judicial Council, said Morsi's decree was an "unprecedented attack" on the independence of the judiciary.

A group of judges gathered to protest the decision at a court building today, before the protest was attacked by unidentified assailants. Opposition parties and movements have called for protests on Nov. 27. Yet the judiciary's moves and popular protests are unlikely to build enough momentum to cause the president to reverse his decision. 

"At the end of the day, the opposition can have their say, but they don't have anything more than their say because elections determine whose opinions matter more," says Haddad. "It's not our fault that our arguments are better listened to, better understood, and the people believe it serves their interests more. ... President Morsi has been trusted with the role and the promise to transition Egypt to stable democracy."

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