Egypt Army ousts Morsi

The Egyptian armed forces on Wednesday deposed President Mohamed Morsi and suspended the country’s constitution, the country’s defense minister said.

A panel has been formed to review and amend the constitution in accordance with the people’s demands, Egyptian Defense Minister Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said in a televised address to the nation.
He said the head of Egypt’s High Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, would lead the country during the transition period until an early presidential election is held.

Millions of Egyptians took to the streets across the country welcoming the armed forces’ statement, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported.

Mansour would be sworn in on Thursday, Al Jazeera reported.

 

Muslim Brotherhood leader Morsi earlier on Wednesday proposed forming a coalition government to pave the way to parliamentary elections in a bid to end the current standoff. The presidential office said Morsi also proposed setting up an independent commission to introduce amendments to the country’s constitution.

“The presidency envisions the formation of a consensus coalition government to oversee the next parliamentary election,” the office said in a Facebook statement.

Morsi’s statement came as the deadline passed Wednesday afternoon on the army’s ultimatum asking him to meet the people’s demands and resolve huge protests against his rule or face a military takeover.

The move to oust the president follows four days of mass demonstrations against Morsi across Egypt starting Sunday.