Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi prefers to die than to quit power as demanded by demonstrators and the Egyptian Army, a spokesman of has said.

According to a Reuters report quoted by the online edition of Egypt’s influential Al Ahram: “A spokesman for Mohamed Morsi said the president believed it would be better to die ‘standing like a tree’, defending the electoral legitimacy of his office, than to go down in history as having destroyed Egyptians’ hopes for democracy.

“Saying that Morsi was not seeking to cling to office for its own sake, spokesman Ayman Ali told Reuters that, in his overnight speech to the nation, the president had defied calls to resign in order to ‘defend the democratic system’.

“It is better for a president, who would otherwise be returning Egypt to the days of dictatorship, from which God and the will of the people has saved us, to die standing like a tree,’ Ali said, “Rather than be condemned by history and future generations for throwing away the hopes of Egyptians for establishing a democratic life.”

Large crowds of protesters seeking to force Morsi out of office have gathered at the famous Tahir Square in the country’s capital, Cairo, even as military chiefs meet to decide on the next line of action following the expiration of the deadline given to Morsi to quit in keeping with the wishes of Egyptians.

The 61 years old Morsi assumed office on June 2012 last year on the back of the Muslim Brotherhood following elections held in the wake of the ouster of veteran president Hosni Mubarak. He however soon lost the people’s favour due to his autocratic rule and failure to quickly deliver the expected dividends of democracy.

•Photo shows embattled Morsi.