@ContraMondoالرفيق / أيمن عزت
The spark was, as ever, unanticipated. A few dozen protesters remained in Tahrir Square after Friday's large, peaceful protest against the military's wish to reimpose itself on Egypt's future constitution. In the last 10 months, there had been no shortage of Egyptians who had suffered personally from the ruling military's transformation, from heroes of the revolution to its nemesis: bloggers have been put behind bars; protesters have been killed; civilians tried in military courts; emergency rule has continued; Coptic Christians have been gunned down; the trial of Hosni Mubarak has been stalled.
But it was a cack-handed attempt to preserve the military's impunity and privileges in a future constitution that finally set Tahrir Square back on a hair trigger. The police who were sent in to clear the tents did the rest. What followed – three days of violence in which 33 have died and over 1,500 injured – constitutes the gravest challenge to the military's hold on power since Mubarak left, and it is far from over yet. As Tahrir battled the birdshot and teargas, clear demands emerged: that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) sets a date for relinquishing power, that a civilian interior minister be appointed, and that the army withdraw to its barracks. Long before this weekend's bloody events, the military had squandered the gratitude of the Egyptians in helping them push a dictator out of power. But after these events, SCAF could soon have as big a problem with its legitimacy as the ousted dictator had.
What happens now? All this is days before a complex six-week long election process is due to start. Just as it did 10 months ago, the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood had yesterday to play catchup with the demands of the revolution. One statement issued by its Freedom and Justice Party had to be strengthened by another one. The first called for the military council to investigate crimes committed against the protesters and for demonstrators to exercise restraint. A second one demanded that SCAF releases a timetable for handing over power to a civilian authority next year. The last thing that the Brotherhood wants is to postpone elections which will see it returned as the major political force.
Elections should go ahead, however imperfect they are. If SCAF hangs on as the transitional authority, it will take elections to inject badly needed legitimacy to the political process. If SCAF realises after a mass march planned for today that the game is up and a civilian authority is formed, elections must also take place. One way or another, the democratic demands of the revolution must prevail. Egypt's military rulers are now only standing in their way.
