In fourth day of violent clashes, Egyptians brace for “million-man march”

In fourth day of violent clashes, Egyptians brace for "million-man march"

Violence has intensified between protesters and Egyptian security forces resulting in at least 24 people killed and over a thousand injured. Demonstrators are calling for a transition to civilian rule and are urging a widening of the protest calling for a "million-man march" in Cairo. Amnesty International released a report on Tuesday saying the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) is employing tactics reminiscent of the Mubarak regime and has "completely failed to live up their promises to Egyptians to improve human rights." Egypt’s cabinet under Prime Minister Essam Sharaf delivered its resignation to the to the SCAF expressing "deep regret over the painful events." The military rulers have not officially accepted the resignation, according to a military source, waiting to determine a new prime minister before doing so. For that role, the military council is considering opposition presidential candidate, Mohammed El Baradei, who, on Monday, called for the end of military trials on civilians and a national salvation government. The SCAF will hold an emergency meeting today assembling the country’s political leaders and Field Marshal Mohamad Hussain Tantawi is scheduled to address the public.

Headlines  

• ICC prosecutor traveled to Libya to consult with the NTC prior to determining where Qaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, and spy chief, Abdullah al-Sanussi, will be tried for alleged war crimes.  
• More than 100 Iraqi civilians won an appeal for a public inquiry into claims of abuse in British detention facilities between 2003 and 2008.
• Tunisia’s newly elected Constituent Assembly held its first meeting to begin drafting the country’s constitution on a route to elections within a year.
• The United States, Britain, and Canada will impose increased sanctions on Iran’s energy and financial sectors in response to the recently released IAEA report on Iran’s nuclear program.
• Saudi Arabian security forces reportedly killed one person as they fired upon demonstrators protesting in the Eastern Province after the death of a 19-year-old Shia man at a police checkpoint.

Arguments & Analysis

‘Bahrain nervously awaits revolt report’s findings’ (Anthony Shadid, New York Times)

"Bahrain’s protests in February and March stand as the opening credits to a plot that remains unresolved today, in an oil-rich region that sits at the nexus of American hegemony, regional rivalries and looming instability. In all the revolts that have roiled the Arab world this year, Bahrain’s government managed a tactical, perhaps ephemeral victory through force. But in doing so, it may have destroyed a society that once took pride in its cosmopolitanism. The question not only for Bahrain but for other Arab countries in tumult – like Egypt and Syria – is whether reconciliation can stop an unraveling spreading across the region. The answer may be in the hands of an Egyptian-American law professor asked by the king last summer to investigate the protests, crackdown and aftermath, in what the king’s supporters called a bid to heal Bahrain. His task: essentially arbitrate a crisis in which neither side even agrees on what to call the landmark traffic circle where the revolt erupted. "We’re the only game in town," said the professor, M. Cherif Bassiouni."

‘In Egypt, street protests set the agenda’ (Mona El-Ghobashy, Boston Review)

The dynamic now driving Egyptian politics is not competition between Islamists and secularists, as some Western politicians and pundits have suggested, but between military rule and mass politics. Political parties and presidential candidates constantly adjust their antennae to these two poles of political influence, attending the Tahrir Square rallies to show their revolutionary credentials and simultaneously expressing measured deference to the generals. The Muslim Brothers have excelled at this political balancing act, hitting the streets when public opinion favors the protesters, while promoting the SCAF’s official position that it is the protector of the revolution. Others have thrown their lot in completely with the SCAF. Tahani al-Gebali, Egypt’s only female judge, and prominent presidential candidate Hisham al-Bastawisi both favor inscribing a Turkish-style political role for the military into the new constitution, granting it veto power over the political process under the rubric of “safeguarding republican values.” 

‘Notes from Tahrir — 2011-11-22’ (Issandr El-Amrani, The Arabist)

"The resignation of Essam Sharaf’s cabinet does not seem to have moved the protest movement. The SCAF is said to be negotiating its replacement with political forces, but here they must be treading carefully: if they join in a national unity cabinet, can they be assured that the protestors in Tahrir will accept? They now risk discrediting themselves in doing so. They have to be sure they can sell it to the public, and that means a hard sell. Meanwhile, the best presidential candidates (ElBaradei and Aboul Fotouh) are scathing about SCAF but offer different ways to get to a national unity government. And the most populist one, Hazem Saleh Abu Ismail, has called for more protestors to come down onto the streets. But he still wants elections, and his criticism of SCAF is partly put as a threat."

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