T-Rex
ELITE MEMBER
- Apr 7, 2008
- 9,989
- -11
- Country
- Location
Egypt's generals defy Tahrir protests over elections
Jack Shenker and Martin Chulov in Cairo
The Guardian, Friday 25 November 2011
Egypt's ruling generals have defied their critics and declared that national elections will begin as planned in three days' time, even as violent unrest continued to sweep the country and preparations began for a huge rally against the junta.
In a move that seemed certain to escalate tensions between the military government and demonstrators calling for its removal, members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces declared that to step down now would be a "betrayal" of the people's trust, and insisted that they would not be dislodged by a "slogan-chanting crowd".
Former prime minister Kamal al-Ganzouri accepted an offer from the head of military council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, to form a new government. It follows the resignation of prime minister Essam Sharaf and his cabinet earlier in the week.
The appointment of Ganzouri, who served under deposed president Hosni Mubarak, came as revolutionary groups called for a major protest in Tahrir Square, which has been occupied by protesters for almost a week. Deadly clashes between pro-change Egyptians and security forces have left nearly 40 dead and more than 2,000 injured, transforming parts of central Cairo and other major cities into a warzone.
Egypt's outgoing interior minister said that in the current climate he could not guarantee the security of the forthcoming parliamentary vote and raised the prospect of a postponement, giving heart to many protesters who believe that the ballot will have no credibility as long it is conducted under military rule.
But at a later press conference army generals announced elections would begin as scheduled on Monday, fuelling anger in Tahrir Square, which has once again become the centre of revolutionary struggle, after the uprising this year.
"There is a general feeling to call off the elections completely," said Nasser Abdul Mohsena, an opponent of the junta who has been demonstrating in the capital. "The military rulers have used these past months to build up a regime, not build a state."
A deserting army captain, Omar Matwali, denounced the detention of Ahmed Shoman another army captain who attempted to join the protests this week, raising the possibility of splits emerging within the army under the military council's rule. Speaking in Tahrir Square on Thursday night, he said several officers were supporting Magdy Hetata, a retired senior general and former chief of staff of Egypt's armed forces, in an apparent bid to lead a new "council of elders" that would replace the junta and oversee the transition to democracy.
This week evidence emerged of live ammunition being used against demonstrators, with autopsy records indicating that at least 22 civilians have been gunned down by live rounds. Reporters Without Borders, an international press freedom body, condemned what it said was a growing number of detentions and beatings of journalists by security forces, including the arrest of an American documentary film-maker and her cameraman and the alleged incarceration of and sexual assault against Mona Eltahaway, a prominent Egyptian-American columnist. "The chaos prevailing in Cairo and the resulting grave human rights violations are as bad as in the darkest hours of the revolution's earlier phase," claimed the organisation. "Journalists are now the unwanted witnesses of the army's desperate attempts to hold on to power and Reporters Without Borders fears that the abuses against media personnel could worsen."
In Cairo's Mohamed Mahmoud street, site of the most intense fighting in recent days, an uneasy truce held for most of Thursday after soldiers moved in to separate armed police and protesters. A barbed wire barricade now stands between the interior ministry and Tahrir Square, though many demonstrators said they would maintain a presence in the strategically important thoroughfare to block security forces from making any surprise attacks.
"We won't leave here, because if we hadn't blocked the street for the last few days the central security forces would have entered the square," Sayed Salah, a revolutionary activist, told Egyptian news outlet Al-Masry Al-Youm. "We don't trust the military; they let us get beaten up yesterday."
In a bid to calm tensions, the military council used its official Facebook page to apologise for protester deaths and offered to set up a military field hospital in Tahrir to help tend to the wounded. "The Scaf is extremely sorry for the fallen martyrs of the children of Egypt in the latest incidents in Tahrir Square," read a statement on the website. "The Scaf offers its condolences to the families of martyrs throughout Egypt."
The support of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been heavily criticised in some quarters for not officially taking part in the ongoing protests, will be essential for any new prime minister wishing to build consensus across the political spectrum. On Thursday the organisation defended its decision to press ahead with the upcoming elections and not join Tahrir Square, saying its presence could have exacerbated tensions. But reports in the Egyptian media suggested that the Brotherhood's stance was sparking internal division, with one prominent leader reportedly threatening to quit the movement.
Jack Shenker and Martin Chulov in Cairo
The Guardian, Friday 25 November 2011
Egypt's ruling generals have defied their critics and declared that national elections will begin as planned in three days' time, even as violent unrest continued to sweep the country and preparations began for a huge rally against the junta.
In a move that seemed certain to escalate tensions between the military government and demonstrators calling for its removal, members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces declared that to step down now would be a "betrayal" of the people's trust, and insisted that they would not be dislodged by a "slogan-chanting crowd".
Former prime minister Kamal al-Ganzouri accepted an offer from the head of military council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, to form a new government. It follows the resignation of prime minister Essam Sharaf and his cabinet earlier in the week.
The appointment of Ganzouri, who served under deposed president Hosni Mubarak, came as revolutionary groups called for a major protest in Tahrir Square, which has been occupied by protesters for almost a week. Deadly clashes between pro-change Egyptians and security forces have left nearly 40 dead and more than 2,000 injured, transforming parts of central Cairo and other major cities into a warzone.
Egypt's outgoing interior minister said that in the current climate he could not guarantee the security of the forthcoming parliamentary vote and raised the prospect of a postponement, giving heart to many protesters who believe that the ballot will have no credibility as long it is conducted under military rule.
But at a later press conference army generals announced elections would begin as scheduled on Monday, fuelling anger in Tahrir Square, which has once again become the centre of revolutionary struggle, after the uprising this year.
"There is a general feeling to call off the elections completely," said Nasser Abdul Mohsena, an opponent of the junta who has been demonstrating in the capital. "The military rulers have used these past months to build up a regime, not build a state."
A deserting army captain, Omar Matwali, denounced the detention of Ahmed Shoman another army captain who attempted to join the protests this week, raising the possibility of splits emerging within the army under the military council's rule. Speaking in Tahrir Square on Thursday night, he said several officers were supporting Magdy Hetata, a retired senior general and former chief of staff of Egypt's armed forces, in an apparent bid to lead a new "council of elders" that would replace the junta and oversee the transition to democracy.
This week evidence emerged of live ammunition being used against demonstrators, with autopsy records indicating that at least 22 civilians have been gunned down by live rounds. Reporters Without Borders, an international press freedom body, condemned what it said was a growing number of detentions and beatings of journalists by security forces, including the arrest of an American documentary film-maker and her cameraman and the alleged incarceration of and sexual assault against Mona Eltahaway, a prominent Egyptian-American columnist. "The chaos prevailing in Cairo and the resulting grave human rights violations are as bad as in the darkest hours of the revolution's earlier phase," claimed the organisation. "Journalists are now the unwanted witnesses of the army's desperate attempts to hold on to power and Reporters Without Borders fears that the abuses against media personnel could worsen."
In Cairo's Mohamed Mahmoud street, site of the most intense fighting in recent days, an uneasy truce held for most of Thursday after soldiers moved in to separate armed police and protesters. A barbed wire barricade now stands between the interior ministry and Tahrir Square, though many demonstrators said they would maintain a presence in the strategically important thoroughfare to block security forces from making any surprise attacks.
"We won't leave here, because if we hadn't blocked the street for the last few days the central security forces would have entered the square," Sayed Salah, a revolutionary activist, told Egyptian news outlet Al-Masry Al-Youm. "We don't trust the military; they let us get beaten up yesterday."
In a bid to calm tensions, the military council used its official Facebook page to apologise for protester deaths and offered to set up a military field hospital in Tahrir to help tend to the wounded. "The Scaf is extremely sorry for the fallen martyrs of the children of Egypt in the latest incidents in Tahrir Square," read a statement on the website. "The Scaf offers its condolences to the families of martyrs throughout Egypt."
The support of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been heavily criticised in some quarters for not officially taking part in the ongoing protests, will be essential for any new prime minister wishing to build consensus across the political spectrum. On Thursday the organisation defended its decision to press ahead with the upcoming elections and not join Tahrir Square, saying its presence could have exacerbated tensions. But reports in the Egyptian media suggested that the Brotherhood's stance was sparking internal division, with one prominent leader reportedly threatening to quit the movement.
