Tens of thousands of Egyptians chanting anti-military slogans flooded downtown Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday to protest the ruling military council's attempts to expand its powers and prolong the transition to civilian rule.
Islamists dominated the demonstration, one of the biggest since the 18-day uprising that brought down longtime President Hosni Mubarak. But the push to curb the army's broad powers also brought out thousands of adherents to secular parties in a rare display of opposition unity.
The high turnout piled pressure on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Egypt's ruling authority, to scrap a plan that would give it almost complete control over the process of drafting a new constitution and to set a date for presidential elections that would mark its departure from power.
"Demands of the public are set and will never be negotiated," said Mohamed Selim el Awwa, a popular Islamist scholar and the presidential candidate for his moderate Wasat Party. "The people will decide, and no one is above the public's decision."Read the rest at Truthout
Huge Crowds in Egypt's Tahrir Square Protest Military Rule
by Mohannad Sabry, McClatchy Newspapers
I don't think we can view these as isolated events anymore. The world is increasingly becoming a consciously interactive system. The revolution is on, pretty much as Ravi Batra predicted in The New Golden Age: The Coming Revolution against Political Corruption and Economic Chaos (2007).
The rest of the article shows that the protestors are unified only in their opposition to the status quo. They are deeply divided over solutions, however. Revolutions are always messy, their success unsure, and even if they succeed, the outcome is uncertain as various factions vie for power.
Are these movements influencing each other? You betcha.
Lessons We Can Learn From Egypt
by: Mehrdad Azemun, Truthout | Op-Ed at Truthout
Lessons We Can Learn From Egypt
by: Mehrdad Azemun, Truthout | Op-Ed at Truthout
4 comments:
There has yet to be a revolution in Egypt. The military, with help from the Muslim Brotherhood, have pushed back against the proponents of democracy.
Well, half a revolution. Getting rid of Mubarak was a big step.
But the real obstacle is the military. It will be interesting to see whether the generals and senior officer corps can keep the junior officers and enlisted people in line.
Revolutions tuns when the junior ranks stand with the people, to whom they are closer, and turn on the senior.
I suppose the key to maintaining a military dictatorship can be found in Burma.
The key to maintaining a dictatorship is probably North Korea. Total isolation.
Even in Burma, the tide is changing.
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