Egypt’s Morsi Loses More Key Aides as Position Weakens

Opposition Rejects Talks as Violence Grows

With the constitutional referendum just nine days away, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi continues to lose key members of his administration, with two new aides, including a former party vice president and the secretary of the nation’s constitutional committee.

Rafik Habib’s departure hits particularly hard as he was the one high profile Christian member of Morsi’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), and the one example he could point to in claiming his party had appeal beyond the Muslim Brotherhood.

Morsi has faced several resignations from his inner circle of aides since he declared his power no longer subject to judicial oversight late last month, and with today’s departure he has now lost nine of his 17 top aides.

The timing puts him in a difficult place, as he is unlikely to want to back down on much of anything before the December 15 referendum, but with violence ever-worsening and his allies heading for the hills, that could be an extremely long nine days.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.