Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi’s move to end the military's domination of the post-revolution country has survived the first test of fire. The powerful military has not challenged Mursi's decisions on Sunday to retire the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Hussein Tantawi, and chief of staff Sami Anan, abrogate the 18 June constitutional addendum, and appoint reformist judge Mahmoud Mekki as vice-president.

The decisions have been broadly welcomed by most political forces and figures of Egypt, although some have reservations who see Mursi’s moves as aimed at consolidating power in the hand of the president’s Muslim Brotherhood.

Many had expected Mursi to challenge the military at some point and for them the moves came as a surprise because the Brotherhood was not seen as ready to defy the armed forces, which took power when long-time president Hosni Mubarak was forced to resign in February last year.

According to reports, the Muslim Brotherhood managed to influence a majority of members of the 19-seat military council and they accepted that it was inevitable that an elected civilian government took control of the country. Tantawi and Anan belonged to the minority and they had no option but to accept Mursi’s order that they take retirement but with a provision that they were appointed presidential advisers.

Mursi’s moves have been questioned by some legal experts, who say the decisions lack constitutionality. Judge Tarek Al Bishri, who headed the assembly that drafted the 2011 constitutional declaration, opposed Mursi’s decisions, stressing that the president holds no authority to issue constitutional decrees.

“The SCAF’s declaration was invalid, and for Mursi to issue a constitutional declaration, especially for its termination, means he acknowledges it, a legally false action,” Bishri has been quoted as saying.

However, such questions do not pose any serious threats in a country where the judiciary has always worked in co-ordination with the executive authority.

The Salafists, who also represent a powerful force in the country, have welcomed Mursi’s decisions.

However, the Muslim Brotherhood’s intentions have come under scrutiny. Liberals and seculars have accused the group of pursuing an “Islamist” agenda that would transform Egypt into an “Islamist” country somewhere along the lines of Iran. Many of them, mostly anti-Islamists, had in fact cautiously welcomed the military’s decisions saying that the armed forces’ moves were a check to political domination by the Muslim Brotherhood. Mursi now holds sweeping legislative and executive powers and this allows the Brotherhood to implement its agenda, they say.

The Brotherhood has rejected the accusations.

Egyptians are now looking forward to Aug.24, the day of protest against Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood called by anti-Brotherhood and anti-revolution figures.

However, the fact remains that the Brotherhood remains the most potent force in Egypt and is capable of overpowering dissent. How the Brotherhood decides to confront the challenge to its domination will be the decisive factor in the future of Egypt.