Between the ruling military council that decreed 25 January a national holiday and activists who dubbed the week preceding it one of “mourning and anger,” the first anniversary of the start of Egypt’s revolution promises to be a day celebration and anger: celebrations among those who are satisfied with what the revolution accomplished, and anger among those who believe the revolution is far from achieving its goals.
In commemoration of the revolution that toppled their former high commander last February, the ruling military council announced that it would hold a formal military celebration in addition to many popular celebrations nationwide, complete with an operetta composed for the occasion and air shows by the same military jets that frightened protesters in Tahrir Square last February by zipping over their heads. This time, they will drop prize coupons on the crowds.
Activists and some politicians, however, consider the military’s celebrations an attempt to distract the people from the fact that the revolution remains incomplete.
“We are not going down to the streets to celebrate. We are going down to continue our revolution. We will not celebrate while the blood of the martyrs hasn’t dried yet,” says Ahmed Emam, a member of the Popular Alliance Party, in a press conference last week where 76 parties and organizations announced their intention to participate in protests on 25 January.
The main demand of the protests is the speedy transfer of power to civilians and the prosecution of those responsible for deaths of protesters over past months.
Since the military took power in February, the revolution has witnessed many setbacks that have caused activists to believe that only Mubarak has fallen, but not his regime. The year witnessed the summoning and imprisonment of activists, the military trial of over 12,000 civilians and ruthless attacks on protesters by both Central Security Forces and military police.
In what was perceived by some as a pre-25 January concession, the military judiciary on Saturday declared plans to release 1,959 of those who were tried in military tribunals. Those to be released include Maikel Nabil, a blogger serving a two-year sentence on charges of insulting the military.
Revolutionaries have organized marches throughout the week demanding social justice, rights for those killed in protests, and the handing over of power to civilians in efforts to mobilize for 25 January.
“Until this moment, there are new ideas and events suggested every day — there isn’t one vision for the day that the political parties can gather around,” says Hassan Abou Taleb, a political scientist, dismissing expectations of another uprising as “irrational.”
The groups who plan to protest disagree on how an immediate transfer of power should take place. Some support the transition of power to the elected Parliament, while others call for early presidential elections. A third group demands that a presidential council be formed to rule until presidential elections are held.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and other Islamist forces, which trounced secular and revolutionary groups in parliamentary elections, see the revolution’s anniversary as a cause for celebration rather than protest.
Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie said in an interview on Sunday that the elected Parliament, not the street, is responsible for holding the military council accountable for deeds it has committed over the past year.
In the party’s official newspaper, FJP Deputy Secretary General Osama Yassin says that, while it is important to push for the revolution’s remaining demands, its accomplishments should not be denied.
Yassin mentions Mubarak’s fall and the dismantling of the former ruling party’s government, parliament and municipalities as the most important accomplishments of the revolution. The party also celebrates the fall of the notorious state security apparatus and what Yassin calls the new, rich political life in Egypt that “enabled the people to elect a Parliament with their free will for the first time.”
The party supports the military timeline that slates the transfer of power to civilians before July.
The groups that plan to protest, however, see a less rosy picture of the revolution’s progress. They accuse the military council of conspiring against the revolution and duplicating the corruption and brutality of Mubarak’s regime.
Activists and politicians complain that the main demands of the revolution haven’t been achieved and that Mubarak’s corrupt police and media are still alive and trying to derail the revolution.
Dina Samak, a professor at the American University in Cairo and an activist, sees disagreement surrounding commemoration of the revolution’s anniversary as a manifestation of new divisions in society.
“It’s not liberals versus religious people; it’s revolutionaries versus conservatives,” says Samak, expecting the division between religious and liberal forces that occurred during parliamentary elections to shift to a division between those who want the revolution to continue and those who prefer stability.
Many have rejected the military’s calls for celebrations on 25 January, considering it a day to continue the revolution
Al-Azhar, Egypt’s preeminent Islamic institution, has made the untraditional decision to side with the protesters and declined calls for celebrations on 25 January, announcing its support for efforts to “revive the spirit of the revolution.” Meantime, it has called on participants to make it a day where they reaffirm national unity and the peacefulness of the revolution.
Iman El Bahr Darwish, the head of the Musicians Syndicate who was asked by the ruling military council to organize the 25 January celebrations, declined the invitation, announcing that the syndicate refuses to celebrate the revolution until it is complete.
Announcements of military celebrations on social media websites have also elicited negative responses. In reference to the announcement that the military plans to drop coupons that people can collect and exchange for gifts, one comment spread on Twitter saying “You can either bend down and collect the coupons or raise your head and continue your revolution.”
While Samak says that she cannot predict what will happen on Wednesday. But based on her recent observations of revolutionary forces’ improved organization, she did not rule out the possibility that the day could be decisive.
“We learned from last year that anything is possible,” she says.
