Following the 18-day uprising that brought down President Hosni Mubarak, the unity of Tahrir protesters appears to be weakening. What happens next in Tahrir Square is now a point of contention between a contingent of die-hard protesters who want to continue the sit-in and the majority, who prefer to stick to weekend demonstrations and mid-week activism.
This is not the first time that Tahrir protesters have disagreed sharply over their future course of action. Following Mubarak's resignation in 11 February, some protesters called for evacuating the square while others insisted on remaining until the government met additional demands.
The new bout of bickering comes after a resurgence of Tahrir Square sit-ins on Friday, when protesters, including a handful of enlisted military men, congregated to call for Mubarak’s prosecution. In the early hours of Saturday, the military stormed the square, arrested those in military uniform, attacked protesters with tasers and batons, and fired guns into the air.
The military announced on Saturday night that it would break up the Tahrir Square sit-in by force, but has not yet followed through on its threat. On Sunday night, a dedicated group of about 500 protesters remained, seeking justice from the military. A smaller group called for the ouster of Field Marshall Mohamed Tantawy, the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Egypt’s interim governing body.
Some still believe in the need for another open-ended sit-in until their demands are met, but they lack the numbers and public sympathy of the initial 18-day sit-in that resulted in Mubarak’s removal from power.
Many of Egypt’s most formidable political groups, such as the National Association for Change, the Free Egyptians Party and the Muslim Brotherhood, have come out publicly against the sit-in.
The 25 January Revolution Youth Coalition has not only objected to a continuation of the sit-ins, but has even gone further: By means of speeches and fliers, members of the coalition are now trying to convince protesters to clear the square. They are planning more visits to the square and are considering hiring trucks to remove barriers used to block it, members of the group told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
Abdel Rahman Samir, a member of the coalition, said that they are satisfied with SCAF’s recent steps regarding the prosecution of leading figures of Mubarak’s regime, though he says the coalition is monitoring the situation and will resume the sit-in if they feel that the military regime is stalling.
Samir says that the coalition respects the rights of those who wish to continue the sit-in, as long as they allow the free flow of traffic.
Some protesters in Tahrir share Samir’s opinion and tried to win a consensus among Tahrir protesters that everyone should gather in a way that allows traffic to pass. Echoing a common argument used against demonstrations during the 25 January revolution, Samir added that opening the square is necessary for putting Egypt’s economy back on track.
“We have to open the square to prove to the people outside that we are not thugs as some claim. If we gather inside the garden and wear signs with our demands, everybody will respect us and listen to us,” argued one protester, addressing the crowds.
Other protesters, however, vehemently disagreed. Some used loud megaphones to request people to not comply with calls to stop obstructing traffic. They argued that the move would weaken the sit-in and reduce pressure on the government to heed their demands.
But for some protesters, remaining in Tahrir is about more than simply pressuring the government: they want to honor the casualties of the military’s attack on Saturday. The Health Ministry claimed that one person died in during the military’s incursion, while some witnesses put the death count as high as seven.
“If you were here on Friday night and saw the people getting killed you wouldn’t have asked us to do this,” said another protester in response to requests to stop blocking traffic.
Members of the coalition suspect that some of those insisting on setting up blockades are doing so based on specific instructions — and possible payment — due to their obstinate refusal to discuss their position.
“It will be challenging to convince them to leave but we have to. It might even escalate to confrontations between us,” Samir said. He said it was the first time that 25 January protesters were unwilling to reach consensus with their peers.
The independent daily Al-Shorouq newspaper reported on Monday that former NDP leaders planned to take over Tahrir Square on Friday night with the use of hired thugs. They hoped to stage a sit-in until 25 April, thereby creating a rift between protesters and the military and weakening the revolution by tarnishing the image of Tahrir protesters. While one NDP leader, businessman Mohamed Ibrahim Kamel, is under investigation for his role in Friday’s attacks, it is unclear how successful his alleged plan was, or how many of those left in the square were a part of it.
