Approximately 2000 activists on Friday night vowed to stage a sit-in in Tahrir square following a mass rally in which tens of thousands of people participated.
Hundreds of thousands of people rallied in Tahrir Square on Friday demanding the transfer of power from the military to a civilian government. Some protesters say they plan to stay in the square for an open-ended sit-in.
The protest saw the attendance of Islamists, liberals, socialists and independents, though Islamist forces seemed to outnumber others.
Four main stages in Tahrir were set up by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, the Salafi al-Nour Party and Jama’a al-Islamiya’s Building and Development Party. However, the protest united people from various political currents – in particular independents – who have been absent from Tahrir in recent months.
Members from the Coalition for the Protection of New Muslims are taking part in the sit-in and have built a wooden room in the central garden in Tahrir.
A coalition named the True Revolutionary announced it is staging a sit-in in Tahrir until a date is set for the handover of power. It says the deadline it has set for this step is the end of April. Official spokesperson for the coalition Hazem Aboul Boukhary said its demands include the cancellation of Selmy’s document and banning remnants of the dissolved National Democratic Party from running in the parliamentary election.
Members from the Salafi Dawah put up several tents in the garden facing the Mugamma, despite a decision by the group to end the protest. They said they will continue their sit-in until a specific date is set for the handover of power.
Radwa al-Ghoroury, a 22-year-old college student, said that Saturday was her first time participating in a Tahrir protest since the ouster of former President Mubarak in February. “I didn’t join Tahrir protests in the past months because I felt political forces were not united on one demand. I used to feel it was a fight more than anything but today is different,” said Ghoroury, who doesn’t belong to a political party or movement.
“I don’t feel that Islamists are dominating. On the contrary, today’s numbers and spirit brought back memories of Tahrir before Mubarak’s ouster.”
The day started with a Friday prayer sermon by Mazhar Shahin, the imam of the nearby Omar Makram mosque. Large marches passed through the city after Friday prayers, starting from Mostafa Mahmoud and Isteqama mosques. The marches were organized by the pro-democracy April 6 Youth Movement and the leftist Revolutionary Socialists.
Protesters rejected the government-proposed document of supra-constitutional principles that allows the military to intervene to protect “constitutional legitimacy” and exempts the military’s budget from civilian oversight. Deputy Prime Minister Ali al-Selmy, who has been handing the constitutional principles file, was a particular target of anger.
Protesters of all stripes demanded that the military hand over power to a civilian government by April 2012 and an end to military trials for civilians.
According to the current timetable, a civilian president will not be elected before March 2013. They also called for more than 12,000 Egyptians have been tried before military tribunals since the military took power.
The constitutional principles document is supposed to influence the new constitution, which will be drafted by a constituent assembly nominated in part by the soon-to-be elected parliament.
Concurrent protests were held across Egypt, including Assiut in Upper Egypt, Mansoura in the Delta, and Ismailia in the Canal area.
Protesters chanted “One, two, where is the transfer of power?” and “Down with military rule” and “The revolution is still in Tahrir.”
“We accepted military rule in the beginning because we had to, but it was only supposed to be a short transition period for six months. But they fooled us and kept delaying the process,” said Nada Ashraf, 21, a student.
“Tantawi and SCAF were there during Mubarak’s regime, which means they are also corrupt. They are manipulating democracy,” she said.
Statements by Islamist speakers suggested they have recently adopted a harsher tone toward the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF). Islamists, the Muslim Brotherhood in particular, have been accused of cutting deals with the military regime.
“Tantawi is a thief just like Mubarak was,” said Ahmed Ashour, a Salafi preacher, announced from one of the stages. “This is why SCAF is afraid that if we come to power, we’ll hold them accountable.”
In an attempt to ease fears of Islamist domination over the protest, Safwat Hegazy, a leading member in the Freedom and Justice Party, said that “some say that Islamists want to take over Tahrir, but we are here to say that there is space in the square for all Egyptians, even if we disagree with some.”
Hegazy, who released the original statement for the Muslim Brotherhood’s political party to participate in Friday’s demonstration, stressed that SCAF has to leave power and carry out presidential elections no later than the first half of 2012.
“We’ll bring down anyone who attempts to hijack power,” said Hegazy.
He also denounced trying civilians before military trials, a demand that has been repeated by revolutionary forces for the past seven months.
Campaigning for parliamentary elections, scheduled to begin in two weeks, was absent from the Tahrir Square protest. In other recent protests, presidential candidates and political parties used Tahrir as a campaign platform.
“Political parties finally realized that SCAF is dangerous for the whole country. SCAF and the constitutional principles document united everyone against the military,” said Youssef Alaa Eddin, 24, a management consultant.
“The danger from SCAF is that it has absolute power even above that of the Constitution, which means nothing has changed since before the revolution when we had Mubarak above everyone else.”
The Popular Socialist Alliance, Adl and Wasat Parties, the April 6 Youth Movement, the 25 January Youth Coalition, the Youth for Justice and Freedom, No to Military Trials for Civilians, and the Revolutionary Socialists all took part in the protest. A number of political parties, including the Nasserist Karama Party and the parties affiliated with the Egyptian Bloc electoral coalition, boycotted.
“We reject any form of negotiation with SCAF as we have been asking them to leave power for three months now,” said Sherif Abdel Moneim, a member of the Youth for Justice and Freedom.
Abdel Moneim added that members of his group will join the sit-in until SCAF announces withdraws the constitutional principles document and agrees to transfer power to an elected civilian government by April 2012.
While rumors circulated that the interim cabinet had withdrawn its proposals for supra-constitutional principles in response to the protest, a spokesperson for the cabinet stated that the proposals remain on the table.
