CAIRO, Dec 29: Egypt’s president warned against any unrest that could harm the drive to repair the country’s battered economy in his first address before the newly convened upper house of parliament on Saturday, urging the opposition to work with his government.    

In the nationally televised speech, Mohamed Morsi said the nation’s entire efforts should be focused on “production, work, seriousness and effort” after a new constitution came into effect, blaming protests and violence last month for causing further damage to an economy already in crisis since the fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Citing the economy, Mr Morsi pressed the opposition to drop its refusal to deal with his government, repeating his invitation for it to join a national dialogue he had been holding — and adding a warning that appeared directed at the opposition not to turn to protests that might cause unrest.

All sides must “realise the needs of the moment” and work only through “mature democracy while avoiding violence”, he told the 270-member Shura Council.

“We condemn and reject all forms of violence by individuals, groups, institutions and even from the nation and its government. This is completely rejected.”

Last month, the largely secular and liberal opposition launched a wave of protests against decrees by President Morsi grabbing new powers — since revoked — and against the draft constitution that his Islamist allies rammed through to finalisation and put to a referendum, completed a week ago.

In response, Islamists also launched mass rallies, and the two sides erupted into violence several times.

Under the new constitution, the upper house of parliament, which normally has few powers, is now serving as the lawmaking body until a new legislating lower house is chosen in national elections expected within a few months.

The upper house, called the Shura Council, has an overwhelming Islamist majority, mainly from Mr Morsi’s Brotherhood and the allied ultra-conservative Salafis.

The president has depicted the national dialogue that he launched earlier this month as a compromise giving all factions a voice. The dialogue is supposed to draw up key legislation to put before parliament, including a law organising the parliamentary elections, and decide other issues.

The opposition has dismissed the dialogue initiative as disingenuous, and so far mainly Islamists are participating, along with a few small liberal parties.

Ahmed Maher, head of the activist April 6 Movement that helped engineer last year’s uprising against Mr Mubarak, said President Morsi’s speech offered nothing new beyond his acknowledgement of Egypt’s economic woes.—AP