In Upheaval for Egypt, Morsi Forces Out Military Chiefs

CAIRO — President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt forced the retirement on Sunday of his powerful defense minister, the army chief of staff and other senior generals, moving more aggressively than ever before to reclaim political power that the military had seized since the fall of Hosni Mubarak last year.

Mr. Morsi also nullified a constitutional declaration, issued by the military before he took office on June 30, that had gutted the authority of his office. On Sunday, he replaced it with his own declaration, one that gave him broad legislative and executive powers and, potentially, a decisive role in the drafting of Egypt’s still unfinished new constitution.

The maneuvers by Mr. Morsi, a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, cemented a major shift in power that began with his election in the face of intense opposition from the military. It received a decisive push this month after 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed in the northern Sinai, deeply embarrassing the generals and weakening them politically.

Still, it was unclear on Sunday whether the generals would accept Mr. Morsi’s latest moves. One top general said the reshuffle was made in “consultations” between Mr. Morsi and the military. There was no sign of a backlash by the military on Sunday night, as the president’s supporters held large rallies in Cairo.

“We had been chanting, ‘Down, down with military rule,’ ” said Shady el-Ghazaly Harb, a liberal political activist. “Today it came true.”

Officials in Washington have been closely watching the confrontation between Mr. Morsi’s civilian government and military leaders, saying that negotiations over how to share power were going on behind closed doors. Neither the White House nor the State Department offered any immediate reaction to the command shakeup ordered by Mr. Morsi. An Obama administration official said the United States was not warned that it was coming.

In a fiery speech on Sunday at an event celebrating a Muslim holy day, Mr. Morsi said his decisions were not meant to “embarrass” the military or its leaders and that he was acting in the “the best interests of this nation.”

“Today, this nation returns — this people returns — with its blessed revolution,” he said. “Support me strongly, so we can move to a better future.”

The retirements announced on Sunday swept away the most prominent names in the military power structure. Most stunning for many observers was the retirement of Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the defense minister. A crucial ally of Mr. Mubarak, the field marshal had served in the post for more than 20 years.

More than any other military leader, Field Marshal Tantawi was seen as the symbol, if not the architect, of the military’s bid for increasing power after the 2011 uprising. As the leader of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, known as SCAF, he was the country’s de facto leader before Mr. Morsi’s election. At 76 years old, he was expected to retire soon, though no date had been announced, and Mr. Morsi had just reappointed him as defense minister.

The army chief of staff who was forced to retire, Sami Hafez Anan, was seen by many analysts as a potential successor to Field Marshal Tantawi. Both men were kept on as presidential advisers with undisclosed roles. Mr. Morsi also pushed out the chiefs of the navy, the air force and the air defense branch.

As analysts struggled to tell whether the shakeup represented a break between Mr. Morsi and the military, or a carefully brokered deal, many looked for clues in the replacements named for the retired generals.

For two major posts, Mr. Morsi chose officers from the supreme military council, suggesting that he had possibly struck a deal with younger officers Some saw the way that the retirements were announced — not as voluntary actions by the officers, but as referrals by the president — as evidence that Field Marshal Tantawi and General Anan might not have known they were coming.  But that was far from clear.

For his new defense minister, Mr. Morsi chose the head of military intelligence, Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, who was seen as close to Field Marshal Tantawi; Gen. Mohamed al-Assar was named an assistant defense minister.

General Assar told Reuters that Mr. Morsi’s decision was “based on consultation with the field marshal and the rest of the military council.”

While the retirements marked at least a symbolic end to the military’s dominant role in Egyptian politics, Mr. Morsi’s abolishment of the constitutional declaration posed a more fundamental challenge to the military. It also raised the possibility of a new confrontation with one of Egypt’s highest courts.

The military originally issued the declaration in a bid to hamstring Mr. Morsi in the event that he won the election. The generals have won backing for many of their decisions from the Supreme Constitutional Court, whose judges are seen as highly politicized.

It was not clear on Sunday how the court would react to the president’s decision to supersede the declaration with his own. “If the military acquiesces, would the court act unilaterally?” asked Michael Wahid Hanna, a fellow at the Century Foundation. “This is extralegal. The court has essentially said that the SCAF’s road map was O.K.”

Gaber Nassar, a professor of constitutional law at Cairo University, said that Mr. Morsi has had the right to abolish the military’s declaration since the first day of his presidency. “The court has no power whatsoever in this matter,” he said.

Perhaps anticipating a fight with the courts, Mr. Morsi on Sunday appointed a senior judge, Mahmoud Mekky, as his vice president. When Mr. Mubarak was president, Mr. Mekky fought for judicial independence and spoke out frequently against voting fraud. Mr. Morsi had previously named Mr. Mekky’s brother, Ahmed Mekky, who also has a record as an advocate for independence in the judiciary, as his justice minister.

Mr. Morsi’s aggressive steps on Sunday, capped by his soaring speech, contrasted sharply with his lackluster image before he became president. He was the Muslim Brotherhood’s second choice as a candidate, selected after the group’s chief strategist, Khairat al-Shater, was deemed ineligible.

On Sunday, in a speech laden with religious references, he spoke of the “many challenges” facing the nation, and suggested that Egypt — and its military — needed fresh leadership.

“I never meant to antagonize anyone,” he said. “We go on to new horizons, with new generations, with new blood that has long been awaited.”

He appeared to be moving confidently after a period that seemed to expose some vulnerabilities.

Mr. Morsi came in for sharp criticism after the attack in Sinai last week, with allies of the military saying his close relationship with the Islamist group Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, was to blame for the soldiers’ deaths. The criticism intensified after Mr. Morsi, citing security concerns, decided not to appear at the funeral for the soldiers.

In response, Mr. Morsi fired his intelligence chief; the governor of Northern Sinai district, where the attack took place; and the head of the military police. Some people speculated that he moved on Sunday in part to pre-empt a planned demonstration this month by his opponents, including many Mubarak supporters.

“He’s been gaining power with time,” Mr. Harb, the activist, said of Mr. Morsi, whom he had criticized in the past. “He was sending a message to whoever thinks the Mubarak regime is still able to come back: The SCAF is not going to do anything for them. A military coup is not going to happen.”

Omar Ashour, a professor at Exeter University who is currently in Cairo, said that for weeks, Mr. Morsi had been pursuing a careful strategy to enhance his power, appointing revolutionary figures to crucial cabinet posts to address the state’s “soft power.” With the purge of the military command, Mr. Ashour said, “he’s going after hard power as well.”

While the leadership changes were proceeding in Cairo, Egyptian troops pressed their campaign to find the killers from the Sinai attack. The military said it had killed at least five militants. Pictures of the aftermath of the operation showed charred bodies. Security officials said troops found machine guns, explosives and rocket-propelled grenades at the site.

Steven Lee Myers contributed reporting from Washington, and Mayy El Sheikh from Cairo.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: August 12, 2012

An earlier version of this article contained a picture caption that incorrectly identified the location in a photo of the Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi. He was standing on the right, not the left.