The crisis between the revolution youths and Egypt’s military rulers is back to square one, as activists are calling for "million-man" march across the nation in what they name the “Tuesday of Will and Escalation.”
Such a political scene echoed the 18-day revolution in which former President Hosni Mubarak was ousted, privately owned Al-Tahrir newspaper says.
“Protesters in the square are increasing and the military council is in continuous session while revolution youths refused to meet with the council,” the paper says.
Similarly, all Egypt’s dailies tackle the rising tensions between the revolution's demands and the military-backed government.
Al-Wafd, the liberal Wafd Party’s mouthpiece, runs a headline that reads: “A clash between the revolution and the authority.” The paper says the gap is widening between the cabinet and the protesters.
The paper says protesters in Tahrir Square rejected Prime Minister Essam Sharaf’s speech while emphasizing their demands, such as assuring that there is no legitimacy except that bestowed by the revolution, removing police officers accused of killing protesters, and ending military trials of civilians.
State-run Al-Akhbar reveals details about Monday’s meeting between Sharaf and Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of the military council that took power when the former president resigned.
The paper says the cabinet changes would affect 11 ministers.
Moreover, Al-Akhbar adds that Sharaf is thinking of appointing political figures George Ishaq and Mamdouh Hamza to ministerial posts. He also is considering prominent Judge Zakariya Abdel Aziz as justice minister.
Privately owned Al-Shorouk says protesters in Tahrir are now discussing the formation of a committee to present the revolution's demands before the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).
The committee will be formed through a questionnaire that was distributed in Tahrir where protesters chose representatives to meet with Egypt’s military rulers. The suggested list includes one Islamist, one delegate from the National Association for Change and one judge.
But the paper says not all protesters agree on this strategy, and some suggest revolutionary youths are the best representatives to negotiate with the SCAF. However, Al-Tahrir newspaper says revolutionary youths are not going to meet the SCAF again because their previous meetings failed to lead to any changes.
The paper runs a headline that reads, “Revolutionary youths refuse to meet with SCAF.” The paper adds that those youths have doubts about the SCAF because military rulers didn’t meet their demands.
One of those demands is the restructuring of the country's police apparatus by dismissing all corrupt officers and conducting swift trials for the officers accused of killing protesters.
Currently, only one policeman was sentenced to death out of 21 court cases dealing with the crackdown on protesters.
On Saturday, Sharaf ordered the interior minister to dismiss police officers accused of killing protesters.
However, the police apparatus is challenging those calls and major dailies highlight the resistance shown by some officers.
“Officers abstain from work, chaos in police stations,” Egypt’s flagship Al-Ahram writes in a headline.
The paper adds that most of the police departments faced chaos after Sharaf's decision to dismiss officers accused of killing protesters.
Some of the accused officers refused to work and other officers joined them in solidarity.
This informal strike affects the organization of traffic. Some departments in the Interior Ministry that deal with issuing passports and work permits witnessed delays and overcrowding due to the officers’ refusal to work.
Moreover, Al-Shorouk says in its main headline: “Central [Security] Forces declare the banner of civil disobedience against [Interior Minister Mansour] al-Essawy.”
The paper adds that the camp of Central Security Forces (CSF) in the Suez region (including three governorates) witnessed a strike of all its soldiers in addition to 120 officers.
Egypt's papers:
Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt
Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size
Al-Gomhurriya: Daily, state-run
Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run
Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned
Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned
Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party
Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Arab Nasserist party
Youm7: Weekly, privately owned
Al-Tahrir: Daily, privately owned
