European Forum

Celebration mixed with protests on the Egyptian Tahrir square

On 25 January thousands of Egyptians gathered on the now infamous Tahrir square to celebrate the one year anniversary of the protests that led to the resignation of Hosni Mubarak. The gathering was a combination of a demonstration and celebration. On the one hand the Egyptians are honouring the ‘martyrs of the revolution’, but the protesters are also demanding a speedy handover of power from the interim military authorities. According to a local reporter, for a number of people demonstrating on the Tahrir square really just is about military hijacking the revolution and about Islamist parties and movements now making the gains instead of those who actually initiated the revolution. But other protestors say it is a rocky transition but it still is a transition pointing out to the fact that Egypt had its first free and fair elections in decades which reflects the will of the people.

Emergency law lifted
On the eve of the anniversary of the demonstrations the state of emergency was lifted in Egypt which has been intact since the assassination of former president Muhammad Anwar El-Sadat in 1981. Under the Emergency Law people can be detained without trial. The law was known to be used for decades by former President Hosni Mubarak to circumvent the civilian justice system. For years, Mubarak’s regime was heavily criticized by international human rights groups over the law. But since Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) took over after Mubarak was overthrown in last year’s popular anti-regime uprising, the military council has been criticized for implementing Mubarak-era laws. The United States praised Egypt’s decision to lift the decades-old state of emergency and hand power to the parliament as “major steps toward the normalization of political life.”

Military Rule
Exactly one year ago a popular uprising of civil resistance began were thousands of Egyptians stayed on Tahrir square for several months. On 11 February 2011, following weeks of determined popular protest and pressure, the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigned from office. However, one year later many protesters appear to be on the Tahrir square to mourn and protest the military rule. The generals assumed control immediately after Mubarak fell, and Egypt has travelled an uncertain path since then. "I am not here to celebrate. I am here for a second revolution," said unemployed Attiya Mohammed Attiya. "The military council is made of remnants of the Mubarak regime. We will only succeed when we remove them from power."

Activists have accused the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces of trying to preserve their political powers and influence the writing of a new constitution to protect their own interests at the expense of a genuine democratic transition. Revolutionaries also say that the backbone of Mubarak’s government is still in place within the security apparatus, that human rights abuses are continuing and that the revolution must go on until key demands are met — including full repeal of the hated emergency law and prosecution of those responsible for the deaths of more than 1,000 people at the hands of the security forces during the past year. According to 23-year-old student Samer Qabil the military are committing the same abuses as Mubarak, and there is no sign of change. The student stated that the soldiers are leading a counterrevolution.

First free and fair elections
The Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, took 47 percent of seats in the lower house of parliament, in the recent parliamentary elections. Thereby the political wing of Egypt’s most historic Islamist party won by far the largest number of seats in the first post-revolutionary parliament. However, the head of the Military Council (SCAF) is still clinging on to power. But the military council vowed to step back after presidential elections in June. Yet they demand to wield influence on the writing of the constitution and hence, the new parliament’s powers. The SCAF is repeatedly accused of human rights abuses and few believe they will relinquish power after a new president is chosen.

A year after the mass protests there is disagreement under the Egyptian civilians. Although some protesters still believe nothing has changed since Mubarak left, they not necessarily represent a majority view. According to a recent poll, 82 percent of Egyptians believe the military will hand over power to a civilian government as promised. However, again several demonstrators set up their tents on the Tahrir square, demanding that the military transfers the power in Egypt to the citizens.

Sources: BBC, Aljazeera, The Washington Post, DeVolkskrant (Dutch)
Image Flickr by RamyRaoof