People in Egypt have taken to the streets and returned to Tahrir Square to protest the ongoing military rule of their nation. The military stepped in to run the country after President Hosni Mubarak was toppled by nonviolent protestors on February 11, 2011. The military rule was supposed to be a temporary step until there could be democratic elections.
From the New York Times:
Egypt’s military rulers struggled Sunday to contain an explosion of protests demanding their ouster, as a growing crowd of demonstrators pushed security forces out of Tahrir Square for a second night in a row and new clashes broke out across the country.
…
But the violence only seemed to reinforce the revolutionary urgency that had returned to the square, and when the army moved to push out the thousands of protesters, more than twice as many quickly flooded back.
“This is February 12!” said Abeer Mustafa, a 42-year-old wedding planner. “We have finally succeeded in reclaiming our revolution.”
The crackdown, including the reported use of live ammunition by troops, elicited condemnation across the political spectrum, joined by voices who had previously taken a more restrained tone toward the military council, from the liberal former diplomat Mohamed ElBaradei to the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.
Almost all the civilian parties called for an accelerated end to military rule before the drafting of a constitution — either an immediate handover to some civilian unity government, a turnover to the lower house of Parliament when it is seated in April, or after a presidential election, to be scheduled as soon as possible.
Huge crowds of protesters filled Tahrir Square in central Cairo on Tuesday and battled with the police in nearby streets for the fourth straight day, braving an increasingly lethal crackdown to demand an end to military rule.
Each day the crowds have grown; on Tuesday, a day after the civilian cabinet offered its resignation to Egypt’s transitional military government, the protesters massed at the epicenter of Egyptian resistance — first to the former president, Hosni Mubarak, ousted in February and now to the military commanders who replaced him — appeared to number well more than 100,000.
…
A new banner across the center of the square declared, “This land is owned by the Egyptian people.” Tents and a field clinic to treat injured protesters were being set up nearby.
Citing anonymous sources, state news organizations reported that the ruling military council had decided to accept the resignation of the interim civilian cabinet, and other news reports indicated that the military council was meeting with political leaders and potential candidates to serve as a new prime minister.
But in the current political climate — the heavy-handedness of the police has galvanized anger at what protesters see as the military council’s increasingly open play for long-term political power — it is unclear if any credible leader would take the job if it remained subordinate to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
“No one is going to accept another civilian government micromanaged” by the military commanders, said Hossam Bahgat, executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.
Occupy Wall Street, which was inspired by the original Egyptian protests, has announced it’s solidarity with the people of Egypt:
As the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces escalates the use of force on protesters at Tahrir, we call for support and solidarity for our brothers and sisters of Tahrir Square. We also call for support and solidarity with our egyptian american brothers and sisters. There will be actions planned so long as the crackdowns continue, starting with a protest today at 5pm in NYC at the Egyptian Consulate (corner of 2nd ave and 58th st) organized by the EAC. There will also be protests tomorrow at 5:30 pm, at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco CA.
Tags: arab spring, democracy, egypt, occupy wall street
