Thousands of Egyptians demanding an end to military rule converged on Cairo’s Tahrir square on Friday in what activists say will be the biggest day yet of protests in a week of violence that has seen at least 41 people killed. The generals who have governed Egypt since people power toppled President Hosni Mubarak face a major challenge to their authority. Activists who accuse them of trying to cling to power have once again turned Tahrir into a centre of mass demonstrations, producing scenes similar to the uprising that toppled Mubarak. Activists sought to bring a million people into the streets of the capital on what they have dubbed “the Friday of the last chance”. The weekly Muslim prayer day has traditionally produced the biggest demonstrations of the Arab Spring revolts sweeping across the Middle East.
There was still no official confirmation early on Friday of state media reports overnight that the ruling military council had appointed Kamal Ganzouri, who served as prime minister under Mubarak from 1996-99, to head an interim cabinet. Prime Minister Essam Sharaf’s government resigned this week. The military rulers say they will transfer power to civilians, but the process should not be rushed to avoid chaos. Washington, long a bedrock supporter of Egypt’s military, called on the generals on Friday to step aside “as soon as possible” and give real power to the new cabinet “immediately”. Mohamed Abdel Kerim, a university student, said talk of appointing Ganzouri, 78, as prime minister was a tactic intended to divide protesters. “We don’t want anyone from the old regime and we want complete powers for the new government,” he said.
Informal debate among protesters about who should head the next cabinet threw up three “acceptable” names: leftwinger Hamdeen Sabahi, Islamist Abdel Moneim Aboul Futuh, or former U.N. nuclear watchdog head Mohamed ElBaradei, protesters said. “There is consensus in Tahrir on the choice of Sabahi, Aboul Futuh and ElBaradei as the three most suitable politicians and technocrats to form a government,” said one protester, Amr Salah. “There is considerable rejection of Ganzouri in Tahrir.” Activists set up checkpoints at entrances to the square, searching people arriving and checking identity cards. “We’ve had enough of government controlled by the military,” read a huge banner tied between two lamp posts. Several hundred young men marched around waving Egyptian flags and chanting “Down, down with military rule” and “Down, down with the field marshal”, a reference to army chief Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.
FRUSTRATION WITH ARMY
The army, once hailed for its role in easing Mubarak from power, has come under increasing fire for dragging out a handover to civilian rule, even as Egypt’s economy falters. This week it promised to accelerate the timetable for a transfer of power to a civilian president and again pledged that parliamentary elections will start on Monday, as planned. The United States and European nations, alarmed at the violence of the past few days, have urged Egypt to proceed with what has been billed as its first free vote in decades. The army and the Muslim Brotherhood, which expects to do well in the election, say it must go ahead, but many protesters do not trust the military to oversee a clean vote. Some scorn the Brotherhood for its focus on gaining seats in parliament.
Thousands rally in Egypt
