Mass protest drags on in Egypt as military rulers seek way out of crisis
Egypt's military rulers held talks with political groups on Tuesday to seek the way out of the worst crisis since the fall of former president Hosni Mubarak in February, as mass protest continued in Cairo's symbolic Tahrir Square.
Latest reports from local media said shortly before that the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has just agreed to transfer power to a civilian government before July 1 of 2012, bowing to the demands of protesters who have gathered in Cairo and other cities for several days.
But at the same time, different views exist on the fate of the upcoming elections slated for next week. While the Muslim Brotherhood insisted on holding elections on time, the liberal Wafd party wanted the polls to be delayed two weeks until security is restored.
Hussein Tantawi, head of the SCAF, is expected to address the nation some time on Tuesday. Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, whose cabinet tendered resignation to the military council, called on all Egyptian people to put the national interest first and work on calming down the situation in the street. Latest reports from local media are suggesting that the resignation has been just accepted by the ruling military council.
The SCAF has asked the justice ministry to investigate the violence which has raged on for four days. The council is reportedly approaching Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog IAEA, for the prime minister's position.
Sharaf's cabinet spokesman Mohamed Hegazy indicated earlier that the government would continue to discharge its duties until the SCAF decides on the matter.
''We were so close to achieving the most important goal in the political transformation by holding the parliamentary elections,'' Sharaf told reporters. ''We worked hard and did everything we could in favor of this country.''
As Egyptians await a way out of the current crisis, massive protests are continuing at central Cairo's Tahrir Square for the fifth day. Footage of local TV channels showed that a funeral for one of the protesters killed in recent violence was held at the square Tuesday morning.
According to the health ministry, 28 people died and more than 2,000 were injured in the clashes over the past four days. Protests and clashes also erupted in other Egyptian cities including Alexandria, Suez and Ismailia, which casualties were also caused.
In response to a Million-Man-March call, tens of thousands of people gathered in Tahrir Square on Tuesday. The number of the protesters was growing as more and more people joined their ranks after work.
Among their top demands are sacking the current Sharaf-led government, withdrawing the constitutional principles, setting a date for transferring power from the military council to a civilian government, in addition to holding presidential elections before mid-2012.
The protests, first starting on Friday, are one of the largest in the country since the fall of former president Hosni Mubarak.
Saed Lawendy, a researcher with the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said that no one knows where Egypt is going to go.
"All what is happening now is to postpone the elections," he told Xinhua. "The political forces became sure of the Muslim Brotherhood's domination over the parliament elections and that nothing were changed in the procedures of the parliament elections. "
"It is necessary for the Sharaf government to resign, but if the supreme military council left the country now, the matter will be worse and worse, as the rescue government formation will cause disputes among political forces," he said.
Egypt is planned to start a historic parliamentary elections on Nov. 28. But the current crisis cast doubts on the polls.
The latest round of violence has started to cause a toll on the country's economy. For the ninth day in a row, Egyptian shares Monday plunged more than 4 percent. Non-Arabs were taken by bearish sentiment, pulling down the bourse's main index EXG 30 4. 04 percent, to a three-year low of 3,860.99 points.
Editor: Mu Xuequan
English.news.cn 2011-11-23 01:50:41
