Egypt Rarity: A Leader Admits to 'Mistakes'

Egypt's president took to the airwaves yesterday following the passage of the country's new constitution, and his tone was a rare one for an Egyptian leader, the New York Times reports. Following violent protests ahead of the constitution's approval, he cited "mistakes here and there," for which "I bear responsibility." It is his opponents' "right" to make their case, he added: "Egypt of the revolution—Egypt’s people and its elected president—can never feel annoyed by the active patriotic opposition."

"We don’t want to go back to the era of the one opinion and fabricated fake majorities," he added. It's the first time since 1967 that an Egyptian president has offered an apology of such "clarity," an expert tells the Times. Morsi promised "peace and prosperity" for Egypt and said he'd make "all efforts" to fix a struggling economy, the Telegraph reports. Meanwhile, the country's Supreme Constitutional Court accepted the new constitution, despite Morsi's concerns that it might take action against it. But the opposition slammed the document, saying it "lacks moral legitimacy, political legitimacy, and popular legitimacy because it lacks national consensus." (More Mohamed Morsi stories.)