Thursday, 22 December 2011
People walk past electoral posters near the pyramids in Giza. (Reuters)
The Muslim Brotherhood, whose party is leading Egypt’s staggered parliamentary election, came out on Thursday against bringing forward a presidential vote to end military rule, saying changing the timetable would wreak chaos.
Protesters who fought soldiers and police in central Cairo for five days before calm was restored this week want the ruling military council to cede power more swiftly.
Cairo clashes have left 17 people dead, the health ministry said Thursday, according to AFP.
The toll rose Thursday after two people died from their injuries, health ministry official Hisham Shiha told state television.
Protesters who fought soldiers and police in central Cairo for five days before calm was restored this week want the ruling military council to cede power more swiftly.
Cairo clashes have left 17 people dead, the health ministry said Thursday, according to AFP.
The toll rose Thursday after two people died from their injuries, health ministry official Hisham Shiha told state television.
Shiha said the 46 people were still being treated in ministry hospitals and an undetermined additional number in military facilities.
The clashes broke out on Dec. 16 between security forces and demonstrators camped since late November in Cairo’s administrative heart.
The activists were protesting against the nomination to prime minister of Kamal al-Ganzouri, who previously held the post under the Hosni Mubarak’s toppled regime.
Activists have called for a mass rally on Friday, dubbed the “Friday of Restoring Honor,” to demand the military hold accountable soldiers responsible for abuses committed during the clashes, which have sparked international outcry.
The clashes broke out on Dec. 16 between security forces and demonstrators camped since late November in Cairo’s administrative heart.
The activists were protesting against the nomination to prime minister of Kamal al-Ganzouri, who previously held the post under the Hosni Mubarak’s toppled regime.
Activists have called for a mass rally on Friday, dubbed the “Friday of Restoring Honor,” to demand the military hold accountable soldiers responsible for abuses committed during the clashes, which have sparked international outcry.
Voting run-offs
Voters went to the polls again on Thursday in run-offs for the second stage of staggered parliamentary elections, a landmark vote that has been overshadowed by the protest deaths.
Many Egyptians, suspicious of the military’s stated commitment to democratic change, would like a presidential vote by Jan. 25, the first anniversary of the start of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak. The vote is now planned for mid-2012.
The once banned Brotherhood, keen to seal its place in mainstream Egyptian politics via the six-week parliamentary vote after generations of state repression, kept a low profile during the latest clashes in Tahrir Square.
Essam al-Erian, deputy head of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), which had the most candidates fielded in second-round runoff votes on Thursday, said his group backed the army timetable to hand power to an elected president by July.
“I think that is better than arranging it as soon as possible because this may create chaos,” he told Reuters.
He said holding a presidential vote before both houses of parliament were elected and able to draw up a new constitution risked handing too much power to a new president. “We are not going to create a new Mubarak,” he said.
Elections to both houses will not be completed until March.
But the liberal Egyptian Bloc, pushed into third place by the FJP and an ultraconservative Salafi Islamist group in the parliamentary vote so far, demanded a swift presidential vote.
“We believe the military should hand over power in no more than three months,” the liberal alliance said in a statement.
Protesters, who have stayed out in Tahrir since Nov. 18 despite several charges by police to clear the square, are angry at the army’s fierce treatment of demonstrators and believe the military high command is trying to cling to power.
Many activists accuse the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists of betraying the protesters' demands by focusing on securing their own positions in the new power structure.
But analysts say an earlier presidential election would not necessarily eliminate the military's predominance in a new civilian-governed state, because all the viable candidates would likely have to have good relations with the generals.
Many Egyptians, suspicious of the military’s stated commitment to democratic change, would like a presidential vote by Jan. 25, the first anniversary of the start of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak. The vote is now planned for mid-2012.
The once banned Brotherhood, keen to seal its place in mainstream Egyptian politics via the six-week parliamentary vote after generations of state repression, kept a low profile during the latest clashes in Tahrir Square.
Essam al-Erian, deputy head of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), which had the most candidates fielded in second-round runoff votes on Thursday, said his group backed the army timetable to hand power to an elected president by July.
“I think that is better than arranging it as soon as possible because this may create chaos,” he told Reuters.
He said holding a presidential vote before both houses of parliament were elected and able to draw up a new constitution risked handing too much power to a new president. “We are not going to create a new Mubarak,” he said.
Elections to both houses will not be completed until March.
But the liberal Egyptian Bloc, pushed into third place by the FJP and an ultraconservative Salafi Islamist group in the parliamentary vote so far, demanded a swift presidential vote.
“We believe the military should hand over power in no more than three months,” the liberal alliance said in a statement.
Protesters, who have stayed out in Tahrir since Nov. 18 despite several charges by police to clear the square, are angry at the army’s fierce treatment of demonstrators and believe the military high command is trying to cling to power.
Many activists accuse the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists of betraying the protesters' demands by focusing on securing their own positions in the new power structure.
But analysts say an earlier presidential election would not necessarily eliminate the military's predominance in a new civilian-governed state, because all the viable candidates would likely have to have good relations with the generals.
Preventing further breakdown
The army is virtually the only institution that has survived Egypt’s political upheaval intact and has vast economic and other interests, so any new president would need the military's nod to maintain order and prevent further breakdown.
“This is a transitional period where one party hands power to another. A deal must be struck. This is politics,” a source close to the military said.
Presidential contenders include Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister and ex-head of the Arab League. He, like some rivals, has joined a consultative council to advise the army, although the body suspended its activities in protest over the violence.
The violence of past days, and an earlier flare-up in November when 42 people were killed, shocked many Egyptians, although many still say only the army can restore order and want the nation to focus on the parliamentary vote, not protests.
“We had a revolution so we could make progress and fair election was a main goal so right now this is more important than anything,” Mahmoud Sadek, 21, said in downtown Cairo, a few streets away from the hundreds of protesters still in Tahrir.
Army-backed Prime Minister Ganzouri, appointed in November under pressure from protests to sack the previous government, outlined the challenges and appealed for unity at a news conference. His cabinet was appointed this month.
He said that the economy had lost billions of dollars from the turmoil but received only $1 billion from Arab states, while world powers had not followed through on aid pledges. He said differences among Egyptians were to blame.
“In the first months (after the uprising), everyone raced to help Egypt, but when we disagreed among each other in the past few months, they turned their backs on us,” he said.
“This is a transitional period where one party hands power to another. A deal must be struck. This is politics,” a source close to the military said.
Presidential contenders include Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister and ex-head of the Arab League. He, like some rivals, has joined a consultative council to advise the army, although the body suspended its activities in protest over the violence.
The violence of past days, and an earlier flare-up in November when 42 people were killed, shocked many Egyptians, although many still say only the army can restore order and want the nation to focus on the parliamentary vote, not protests.
“We had a revolution so we could make progress and fair election was a main goal so right now this is more important than anything,” Mahmoud Sadek, 21, said in downtown Cairo, a few streets away from the hundreds of protesters still in Tahrir.
Army-backed Prime Minister Ganzouri, appointed in November under pressure from protests to sack the previous government, outlined the challenges and appealed for unity at a news conference. His cabinet was appointed this month.
He said that the economy had lost billions of dollars from the turmoil but received only $1 billion from Arab states, while world powers had not followed through on aid pledges. He said differences among Egyptians were to blame.
“In the first months (after the uprising), everyone raced to help Egypt, but when we disagreed among each other in the past few months, they turned their backs on us,” he said.
Cairo clashes
The clashes in Cairo have driven a wedge between those determined to stay on the streets and other Egyptians desperate for a return to order to shore up the economy and entice back foreign tourists.
But many have been shocked by images of police and soldiers hitting protesters with batons even after they fell to the ground and, in one case, kicking, beating and dragging a woman by her black robe, exposing her bra, and then kicking her.
“I do not blame anyone nor do I defend anyone, I hope that everyone seeks to remove the appearance of violence. How can the state of Egypt, at the center of its capital, have these depressing events?” Ganzouri said.
“Is it not necessary for us to decide as a people that this must be eliminated, so the tourist may come back, so the joy of the Egyptian people may come back?”
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week responded with some of the strongest U.S. criticism of Egypt’s new rulers, citing cases of women protesters being sexually assaulted.
The United States, for which Egypt under Mubarak was a crucial ally, gives Cairo $1.3 billion a year in military aid.
Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said on Wednesday that Egypt would not accept meddling in its affairs, and did not take comments such as Clinton’s lightly. Ganzouri condemned all forms of violence, particularly any directed at women.
Egypt’s economy continues to take a beating. The credit rating agency Moody’s downgraded Egypt’s debt on Wednesday and said it might knock it down another notch because political uncertainty was undermining investor confidence.
A large number of the individual - rather than party list - seats up for grabs in the run-offs were being contested between Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi candidates.
Run-offs are held after each of the three rounds of the vote where no candidate received more than 50 percent to win outright. Egypt’s system involves allocating two-thirds of seats of party lists with the rest going to individuals.
But many have been shocked by images of police and soldiers hitting protesters with batons even after they fell to the ground and, in one case, kicking, beating and dragging a woman by her black robe, exposing her bra, and then kicking her.
“I do not blame anyone nor do I defend anyone, I hope that everyone seeks to remove the appearance of violence. How can the state of Egypt, at the center of its capital, have these depressing events?” Ganzouri said.
“Is it not necessary for us to decide as a people that this must be eliminated, so the tourist may come back, so the joy of the Egyptian people may come back?”
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week responded with some of the strongest U.S. criticism of Egypt’s new rulers, citing cases of women protesters being sexually assaulted.
The United States, for which Egypt under Mubarak was a crucial ally, gives Cairo $1.3 billion a year in military aid.
Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said on Wednesday that Egypt would not accept meddling in its affairs, and did not take comments such as Clinton’s lightly. Ganzouri condemned all forms of violence, particularly any directed at women.
Egypt’s economy continues to take a beating. The credit rating agency Moody’s downgraded Egypt’s debt on Wednesday and said it might knock it down another notch because political uncertainty was undermining investor confidence.
A large number of the individual - rather than party list - seats up for grabs in the run-offs were being contested between Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi candidates.
Run-offs are held after each of the three rounds of the vote where no candidate received more than 50 percent to win outright. Egypt’s system involves allocating two-thirds of seats of party lists with the rest going to individuals.
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