CAIRO — Days after issuing contentious decrees that tightened his grip on power, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi seems engaged in finding a way out of the crisis that has divided the country. Owing largely to the political uncertainty gripping the nation, the stock market plunged by more than 9.5 percent in the first trading session since Morsi assumed sweeping new powers. With the opening bell of the country's stock market Sunday, the first day of the workweek in Egypt, the turmoil spread from the country's bitter politics to its already ailing economy. The Egyptian Exchange's EGX30 index dropped 9.59 percentage points, making the losses among the biggest since the turbulent days and weeks immediately after the ouster in a popular uprising of authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak last year. Sources close to the presidential palace indicated Sunday that President Morsi was now working on a strategy to wriggle out of the situation which has pitted the executive and the judiciary on the war path. As a placating gesture, the presidency said it was committed to engaging “all political forces” to reach common ground on the constitution and stressed the “temporary nature” of a decree expanding President Morsi's powers. “This declaration is deemed necessary in order to hold accountable those responsible for the corruption as well as other crimes during the previous regime and the transitional period,” the presidency said in a statement. Facing a storm of protest from judges and political opponents who accuse Morsi of turning into a new dictator, the presidency said the decree was “not meant to concentrate powers”, but to devolve them. It aimed to avoid the politicization of the judiciary, the statement said. It also aimed to “abort any attempt” to dissolve either the body writing Egypt's constitution or the upper house of parliament, both of them dominated by Islamists allied to Morsi, the statement added. “The presidency stresses its firm commitment to engage all political forces in the inclusive democratic dialogue to reach a common ground and bridge the gap in order to reach a national consensus on the constitution,” it added. As part of Morsi's new strategy, Justice Minister Ahmed Mekky has started mediation efforts to try to end the crisis, state TV reported Sunday. Mekky, who has said he has “some reservations” about Morsi's decree, convened a meeting at the Supreme Court headquarters in Cairo, state TV reported, without giving further details. Meanwhile, the country's highest judicial authority said the Morsi decree which shields his decisions from judicial review must only be applied to decisions or laws relating to “sovereign matters”. The Supreme Judicial Council in a statement read on state TV also called on judges to keep courts and prosecution offices functioning after the influential Judges' Club called Saturday for a countrywide strike in protest at Morsi's decree. Egypt's liberal and secular forces — long divided, weakened and uncertain amid the rise of Islamist parties to power — are seeking to rally themselves in response to the decrees. On Sunday, protesters clashed with police in Cairo's Tahrir square, birthplace of the uprising that toppled Mubarak, and in the side streets and avenues leading off the plaza. The Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the police, said a total of 267 protesters have been arrested and 164 policemen injured since the protest began a week ago, initially to mark the anniversary of street protests a year ago against the nation's then-military rulers. Forty-two protesters were killed in those demonstrations. The ministry did not say how many of the protesters were injured in the latest clashes, but they are thought to be in the dozens. Several dozen protesters are staging a sit-in in Tahrir, vowing not to leave before Morsi rescinds his decrees. The two sides have called for rival massive protests Tuesday at two Cairo locations less than a mile apart, raising the possibility of renewed clashes between supporters and opponents of Morsi. — With input from Agencies
