http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2012/1083/fr1.htm
2 - 8 February 2012
Issue No. 1083
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875
Country in confusion
Besides the confrontation between protesters and SCAF, a more dangerous split
has now emerged between supporters of the 25 January Revolution and the Muslim
Brotherhood, reports Khaled Dawoud
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Click to view caption
Egyptian protesters, left, clash with volunteer members of the Muslim
Brotherhood guarding outside parliament in Cairo on Tuesday 31 January.
Thousands of largely peaceful protesters clashed with a smaller number of
Brotherhood loyalists who decided to act as "human shields" in order to protect
their MPs who form a majority in parliament together with the Salafist Nour
Party
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Many unusual things have taken place in Egypt since the forced removal of
former president Hosni Mubarak a year ago. But among the most uncanny was the
scene near the People's Assembly building Tuesday evening, when thousands of
largely peaceful protesters clashed with a smaller number of Muslim Brotherhood
loyalists who decided to act as "human shields" in order to protect their MPs
who form a majority in parliament together with the Salafist Nour Party.
The protesters, who headed to parliament building in demonstrations from
different districts of Cairo, mainly belonged to leftist and liberal groups who
insist that they were the ones who sparked the 25 January Revolution that
started in Tahrir Square a year ago, only later joined by Brotherhood
supporters when it became clear that the tide was turning against Mubarak.
Their main demand was the immediate transferal of power from the Supreme
Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to an elected president, disregarding an
earlier timetable that set the transfer at 30 June.
After a series of bloody confrontations between army soldiers and mainly young
protesters in which nearly 100 people were killed between October and December,
the protesters said that they had no trust left that SCAF would remain
committed to any timetable, or that it would not try to influence the process
of drafting a new constitution that is supposed to start in early March in
order to maintain its long-standing vested interests. Besides the now regular
chant of "Down with military rule", demonstrators also repeated one short
slogan: "Hand over power".
However, for Muslim Brotherhood supporters who blocked all the main roads
leading to the parliament in cooperation with Army Forces and anti-riot police
who stood behind their lines, the demonstrations they confronted were mainly
aimed at sabotaging the results of the latest elections, and they chanted in
return: "The people chose Muslim Brotherhood MPs".
The result was repeated rounds of clashes between the two sides, leaving nearly
100 people wounded, mostly lightly.
The protesters, who claimed they derived their legitimacy from the "Midan", or
the Arabic word for square in reference to Tahrir Square, alleged that the
Muslim Brotherhood supporters physically attacked a number of women taking part
in recent anti-SCAF demonstrations. Others alleged that Muslim Brotherhood
loyalists performed the role of anti-riot police during Mubarak's days, except
for the absent black uniform, and that they had even went as far as using
tasers in order to disperse the crowd and keep them from reaching the
parliament building. That charge was strongly denied by a spokesman for the
Muslim Brotherhood group.
"Sell, sell, and sell. Sell the revolution, Badie," the protesters who
surrounded the parliament shouted in reference to the Supreme Guide of the
Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie. Others took off their shoes and lifted them
in the face of mostly young Muslim Brotherhood supporters, and in a few
incidents they started throwing empty plastic water bottles and rocks. The
Muslim Brotherhood supporters remained largely restrained, except when a new
round of pushing started from demonstrators attempting to reach the parliament
building. "This is shocking. I can't believe the day has come when the Muslim
Brotherhood perform the role of the police. Shame on them," said Yasmine
Mohamed, one of many young women protesters.
Groups like the 6 April Movement, Kifaya, the National Association for Change,
the Revolution Youth Coalition and a number of small socialist parties,
including the Revolutionary Socialists, received a major moral boost on the
first anniversary of the 25 January Revolution last week when nearly two
million people flooded the streets of Cairo and several other major cities,
criticising SCAF and insisting that nearly none of the major demands of their
popular revolt were met. That massive turnout took place despite a clear and
determined effort by SCAF, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafist Nour Party
to spread fear that widespread violence and arson attacks were expected, in a
clear effort to discourage people from going out into the streets.
However, Mahmoud Ghozlan, the official Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, charged
that leftist and liberal groups disrespected the choice of the Egyptian people
during the recent elections. He said: "Even if one million people had taken
part in the demonstrations during the first anniversary of the revolution, we
should never forget that the Freedom and Justice Party (the political wing of
the Muslim Brotherhood) won 10 million votes." He added: "It is clear whom the
Egyptian people chose to lead in the process of meeting the demands of the
revolution and assuring a peaceful transfer of power."
The widening gap between secular and political Islamic groups in Egypt
coincided with clear confusion over the timetable of handing over power from
SCAF to an elected president and the drafting of a new constitution. After the
bloody clashes that took place in front of the Cabinet building in
mid-December, in which 18 people were killed, SCAF had announced that both
houses of parliament, the People's Assembly and the Shura Council, would meet
on 28 February to start the process of electing 100 members who would form a
committee to draft a new constitution. The door for nominations for president,
according to SCAF's plan, would open in April, and elections would be held in
late June according to rules set in the new constitution.
Anti-SCAF protesters who were likely to continue daily demonstrations, at least
up until the anniversary of Mubarak's removal on 11 February, insist on holding
early presidential elections, and that voting should take place in April and
not late June as SCAF announced. But that proposal was not agreed upon even
among anti-SCAF groups who remain clearly divided. Mansour Hassan, head of the
Advisory Council that was formed by SCAF two months ago in order to assist the
army generals in decision-making, said it made more sense to draft a
constitution first in order to specify the powers of the president, the
parliament and other political bodies. He added that members of the Advisory
Council had presented a number of proposals on how to speed up the political
process of electing the president, but he refused to provide details.
However, sources close to the council told Al-Ahram Weekly that they had
proposed opening the door for nominations for the presidency in early March, to
allow a reasonable period for campaigning, and more important, to calm fears
among anti-SCAF groups that it was not serious about handing over power on
time.
Salama Ahmed Salama, a prominent columnist at Al-Shorouq newspaper, earlier at
Al-Ahram, warned of the consequences of the continual state of confusion since
Mubarak's removal. He said that opinions and proposals for a timetable to hand
over power to an elected president, "tend to change from one week to the other,
and every day we have a new timetable to the degree that almost nobody knows
now what would come first: drafting the constitution or electing a president,
especially that youth groups had until recently insisted on drafting the
constitution first."
Salama, who is a widely respected writer and largely moderate, warned of the
effects of such deep splits among political groups in Egypt on average citizens
who are mainly concerned with daily bread issues and were badly hit by the
deteriorating economic situation. Salama added: "What we need is a clear
timetable that we all stick to, one that would not change after each new wave
of demonstrations or sit-ins." (full coverage pp.2-5 and Editorial p.14)
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