President Morsi's post-coup speech to the people of Egypt

In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

“And hold fast, all together, by the rope of Allah and be not divided.” (Qur’an 3:104)

I address all Egyptians, the opposition and the supporters, and would like to raise their children and grandchildren in a modern state, the Egyptian state, a state that we all deserve, that has access to all the instruments of stability, production capacity, development, and true freedom and social justice, and the value which Egypt deserves among the countries of the world.

In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

“And hold fast, all together, by the rope of Allah and be not divided.” (Qur’an 3:104)

I address all Egyptians, the opposition and the supporters, and would like to raise their children and grandchildren in a modern state, the Egyptian state, a state that we all deserve, that has access to all the instruments of stability, production capacity, development, and true freedom and social justice, and the value which Egypt deserves among the countries of the world.

Egypt has been invaded many times throughout its history, and its enemies came between its people and its potential to be the state with the true message, and a state that produces enough for its needs, where its citizens have their own will. That is evident throughout imperialist history and the several revolutions which came after that, including the last one, the greatest one, the revolution of January 25, 2011. That was when we all stood in all the squares to say to the criminal tyrant that he must leave. And it happened.

However, as you know, there remained the tails and claws of his regime; and there remained the deep state and the vandals and many challenges. But the Egyptian people succeeded, with God’s blessing, to conduct free and fair elections in 2012 when I was elected president of the republic in front of international election observers. From then until now I have been making every effort so that Egypt can own its will and so that the children of Egypt can have their true freedom, and so that the children of Egypt can have an effective role in the progress of their nation and in moving forward towards wider horizons; to real productivity, to a great role that awaits them and which they deserve.

What has hindered this has been the short time since the election and now, just one year in which to deal with many challenges, which you have all witnessed. Now, with what is happening on the ground, I have tried and will continue to try to steer all Egyptians off a collision course and spare them acts of violence and fighting, because every drop of Egyptian blood is dear to me and I do not accept nor approve nor will allow this pure blood to fall. The objective is stability for Egypt and the success of the revolution.

I see now, my fellow Egyptians, that this revolution is being stolen from us and that it is desired for us to be submerged in a sea of never-ending conflict and argument that only results in regression for the nation; to enter into downward spirals of demands for leadership change; and that this situation could be repeated several times. You have seen with me, that those who protected the legitimacy that we all have participated in creating you have seen with me that there has been some backtracking in that field and you see with me too that I am president of the republic and very protective of this legitimacy. For that reason I have over the past few days contacted all the political forces, with the participation of the armed forces, so that we can arrive at an initiative acceptable to all parties. The forces and parties that support and protect legitimacy have put forward an initiative to the presidency. It includes many points and issues, one of which is changing the government or solving the prosecutor-general issue judicially, and that was decided today in a verdict that is being studied for how best it can be implemented. The initiative also included a social contract to negotiate the way forward and early parliamentary elections so that we can create a parliament in accordance with the agreed-upon Constitution; that is considered to be a huge achievement among all of the other achievements of the great January 25 Revolution.

Many forces have collaborated to try to block the ongoing revolution, so the initiative suggests the introduction of a pledge of honour for dialogue, for the media, which is playing a role that you all know about. Many media outlets are being used to destroy what we have started and what we have built together. The initiative requires us all to respect the legitimacy of the presidency and the constitution that is in effect and the laws of the state. It includes enough to ensure to all forces in the nation have a role, where their generosity can be appreciated, so that we can move forward in the next phase, in cooperation and harmony, so that we never be in conflict.

What I see now is that there are desperate attempts for the revolution to be stolen, to take us back to square one, so we must start anew, which I absolutely refuse to accept. As such, I issued a direct order to all the forces in the state institutions, the interior security forces and the armed forces, that their role in maintaining the security of the nation should be prominent and clear; that they should stop the bloodshed and that they also protect democratic legitimacy that we all earned as a result of the presidential and parliamentary elections, and the constitutional referendum. Those forces, who are the sons of this nation, are asked to protect its legitimacy and to protect the nation; to accept that constitutional and legal legitimacy, and the voice of the people, are reasons enough to protect this nation.

There is no path other than that of constitutional legitimacy and law that is in effect now. We must proceed towards parliamentary elections, and quickly, to form the new parliament. We must protect the constitution that was approved by 64 per cent of Egyptians in a referendum; the articles of which were agreed by the judiciary which issues its verdicts in many courts, one of which is the Constitutional Court based on this constitution. Not only that, the membership of the Constitutional Court was reshuffled according to the constitution and yet now there are demands for the constitution to be suspended. I absolutely refuse to allow that and call upon you to protect the constitution, to hold on to it, and not to accept any alternative to it.

The only option before you, I believe, is that I am the elected president of Egypt, and that the constitution of Egypt commands respect by all, and that Egyptian law is in effect until and unless amendments that need to be made are effected in accordance with the constitution. The parliamentary elections must be held, under the full supervision of the judiciary and managed by the electoral committee that is defined in the constitution; the elections must be secured by the armed forces, the Ministry of the Interior and the police.

The world is watching us and we know ourselves; we are able to overcome obstacles. We are the children of Egypt, of this nation, this is the will of the Egyptians and it cannot be cancelled after just one year. What sort of world do we live in if this could be allowed to happen? We live in a world that speaks of democracy. There cannot be a specially-tailored democracy for Egypt alone; democracy must be the right of Egyptians to have freedom and to practice democracy as it has been known and defined by this world. Democracy is the choice of the majority, and it is agreed to follow the people’s will once the results of the democratic process have been announced. The results have been announced, so why do we want to stop this progress? Do we want blood to be shed? We can never accept that, and I call on you to stop the bloodshed and not fall into the swamp of fighting, because if that happens, this nation will be in great danger.

We are now facing a massive historical challenge. We will all stand before God for reckoning and God will ask us: What did you do with what was entrusted to you? So here I am making you an offer, the only offer, and that is to hold onto legitimacy and for the constitution to continue under its legitimate umbrella following its adoption in the great referendum that took place last December and under which we lived for the past 6 months. There is no other legitimacy, it cannot be, and it is not acceptable; I do not accept this at all and I do not approve of you battling over it; I order you not to fight and I do not accept for you to regress. Nor do I accept for my own part for there to be a different legitimacy. A shifting legitimacy which can be changed every few months is a cause of chaos without law and references; it would see the nation regress to the old situation before we decided that this nation should be stable after the January 25 Revolution.

Esteemed citizens of Egypt everywhere, this is our nation; this is our nation and we live in it under the sky of our Lord and we know the truth of all that is plotted against us and you know it too. You realise that what is being plotted against us is big. So I address everyone, the supporters and the opposition and the judiciary; and the workers and peasants; and the men of the Ministry of the Interior and those of the armed forces; and all sections of the Egyptian people; you are all the children of Egypt and the owners of this nation; you are the ones capable of protecting its security with the blessing of God.

The biggest responsibility now is that we ensure Egypt’s security and that of its people and keep their blood from being shed through holding onto the legitimacy that we have brought forth together. I stand with you and I stand amongst you. I will continue with you to protect this legitimacy; and I have no deterrent, as I had mentioned before, months ago, weeks ago, days ago and again now. I am ready for everyone to come to the table, and for me to sit, to negotiate with all, and to have dialogue with all, from the supporters and the opposition and the initiative that I mentioned earlier, that I accepted and about which you now know all the details, so that we can save our nation through an effective sincere dialogue and move forward. If other than this takes place that will be the responsibility of those who have pushed for it. Their responsibility will be before God and history and this people. No one who has been given power by this people, which belongs to this people, no one can impose their opinion using this power that they do not own, even myself. I do not apply pressure to the people to keep them from affecting their will; that is unacceptable for me or anyone else.

I believe that we must all hold on to legitimacy; that we all respect the constitution; that we all respect the law; that we all love our nation, our Egypt; that we all the Arab nation; that we all love this world we live in and of which we love to be citizens as it calls for peace; and that we all carry that which leads to all of this and perform our duties. So here I am performing my duty towards you all. There is no alternative to legitimacy, there is no alternative to the constitution, there is no alternative to the law, and there is no alternative to respect for the people’s will.

I appreciate that there will be opposition, strong and effective, but I also see huge support. And I see at my back a year ago, then six months ago, the will of the people, which has been affected through a legal process, and has taken place in a process approved by all, and accepted by all, and we have lived under it for a year; that was the evidence of its acceptance, and evidence of respect for the constitution; and it was evidence that there is no alternative.

However, when we come today and say that we must stop this progress and return to square one, this does not take us forward and does not put us in a position for real development, and does not bring us closer to being truly free in our nation. We do not accept that anyone can impose their will on us. The people have matured and have sufficient awareness to protect themselves, their blood, their dignity, their freedom and the legitimacy under which they live. This is my message to you, I pronounce it clearly. I am with you, standing with you in Egypt, upon its soil, to protect the legitimacy and to conduct our dealings through it, and that God is watching over it all.

Oh people of Egypt, know this; we do cannot be protective of our religion more than God is capable of protecting it. And cannot be more protective of this nation more than our Lord, and we work under the hope of being just; we want justice for our nation, we want freedom for all the citizens of Egypt, we want to protect the already-standing legitimacy, and we want social justice. I call on everyone to be a guardian of this nation and to protect this legitimacy, constitution and the law. “Know that God is victorious, but most people do not know it.” It is in God’s hands, and we only have our will in our hands, and I announce here that we love this nation and we shall stick to the already-erected legitimacy, and there is no way but that path, and no way back from it. I thank you, and I offer you my salutations and love, and wish you all the success with you and through you; and with God’s blessing and will, we move forward; and may God help us. Bless you all. Assalamu Alaikum…