Egyptian revolution one year on: protesters gather in Tahrir Square

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Egyptian revolution one year on: protesters gather in Tahrir Square

January 25th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Youth groups are calling for a demonstration to converge on Tahrir Square in
Cairo, as well as other cities across Egypt. Ahmed Saif al-Islam, one of Egypt’s
best-known human rights lawyers, who was detained during the revolution,
said the speed with which the army agreed to hand over power to civilian
rule would depend on how many people turned out and how much pressure it
felt under as a result.

Most of the largely secular youth and protest groups who created the
revolution last year are demanding that the timetable for presidential
elections be brought forward. There is no current date set, though officials
have said nominations will open on April 15.

“The regime has not fallen and its institutions are still corrupt,”
said Mahmoud Afifi, of the April 6 movement, which grew from a support group
for striking workers in 2008 into a spearhead of the protests last year. It
wants executive power to be handed over immediately to the speaker of the
newly elected lower house of parliament, which met for the first time on
Monday, and for presidential elections within 60 days.

^{Egyptians gather in Tahrir Square to mark the one year anniversary of the

revolution in Cairo [Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images]}

The army has repeatedly warned of the threat of violence from the protesters,
but has agreed to withdraw its officers from the main squares.

The Muslim Brotherhood-backed Freedom and Justice Party won the election with
just under half the seats, and will have most say in appointing members to
the committee that will revise Egypt’s constitution. It is suspected by many
of the largely secular youth activists behind the demonstrations of doing a “dirty
deal” with the army to share power.

The Brotherhood has certainly been the greatest beneficiary of the army’s
interim rule, and its leader, Mohammed Badie, last week said he was opposed
to a second revolution. Like the army, he called for Wednesday to be a day
of celebration.

Its stance undoubtedly has much popular support from those who regard
stability as preferable to idealism in rebooting the economy, which has
suffered the twin effects of global recession and political uncertainty.

Egyptians gather in Tahrir Square to mark the one year anniversary of the revolution in Cairo [Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images] ^{Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images}

Activists claim that the economy cannot really be healthy while army-owned
companies control so much of Egypt’s business life – between 20-40 per cent
of GDP, according to estimates.

Mr Saif al-Islam said the Islamists were keen to stop a “second phase”.

“I hope they do not succeed,” he said. “I don’t think they
will, not only because of the young revolutionaries who criticise them but
because their own younger members will not accept the orders of the
leadership.”

He said the strength of the protests would determine how far and how fast the
military eventually went in allowing civilian rule.

Although the emergency laws remain in place, their restrictions on political
parties, freedom of speech and demonstrations have been greatly weakened in
practice. But the use of military courts to try protesters has been stepped
up, and is a major source of conflict with activists.

Egyptian revolution one year on: protesters gather in Tahrir Square [Photo: KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images] ^{Photo: KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images}