On April 9, renewed fighting broke out
in Tahrir Square, as the military command opened fire on protesters,
joined by some rank-and-file soldiers, who were demanding a faster
pace of change.
Although it is two months since the
Egyptian masses forced Hosni Mubarak from power, the revolution is
far from over. Rather, like all great revolutions, this one has
unleashed the pent up frustration and demands of millions, bringing
them into political life to debate the most central of all questions:
what type of society and government do we want? Whereas there existed
broad cross-class unity against Mubarak—the common enemy—the
question of what to construct in his place is not so easily resolved.
More and more Egyptians are in the
streets with the message that getting rid of the dictator is not the
same as getting rid of the dictatorship. The dictatorship, which is
based on the rule of the military elite, a tiny clique of crony
capitalists with the backing of Washington, still controls all the
levers of power in Egypt. These forces are maneuvering around the
clock to keep the Egyptian workers and young militants from taking
the revolution to the next stage.
The Supreme Council of Armed
Forces—Mubarak’s old generals who are functioning as the
“transitional” government—have at every step tried to stop the
mobilization of the people. For weeks, they refused to dismiss
Mubarak’s cabinet and disband the secret police as the
revolutionary movement had demanded. They condemned striking workers,
portrayed student protesters as naïve and disruptive, and appealed
to Egypt’s middle class to help restore “order” and return to
normalcy.
But rather than go home as they were
told, workers and activists continued to strike, rally in Tahrir
Square, hold political meetings and march against local officials
known as “little Mubaraks” across the country.” In the past,
emergency laws, brute force and intimidation kept the population in
check, but millions lost their fear in the course of the revolution.
Despite the opposition of the military, people seized the
headquarters of the secret police, exposing and destroying their
files. With the revolution again surging forward, the military brass
finally conceded, disbanding the police agency and Mubarak’s
cabinet. Some of Mubarak’s top henchmen have been arrested and are
now facing trial on corruption charges.
The Egyptian military elite, hoping to
maintain their control of the unfolding political dynamic, did
succeed in a recent constitutional vote. While the Egyptian left and
other forces of revolutionary youth demanded that time be given for
an entirely new constitution to be drafted and written, the political
establishment proposed instead nine amendments to the existing
constitution. These reforms reflected some of the movement’s basic
democratic demands, but left the underlying political and economic
system intact. Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, as well as the
Wafd Party and the Muslim Brotherhood—all of which have middle and
upper class leadership—campaigned for a “yes” vote, warning
that chaos would ensue if the amendments were not accepted.
In fact, it is not chaos they fear.
What they fear is the consolidation of another pole in Egyptian
politics, which would give expression to the millions who want to
tear down the whole system, root-and-branch. Already, groups of
workers, leftists and young revolutionaries are starting to regroup
to provide precisely such an alternative.
What the Egyptian political
establishment, the military leadership, and their backers in
Washington fear above all is a movement that will not just call for
political reforms, but challenge the state’s economic and foreign
policies, and ultimately, capitalism.
They have good reason to be afraid.
Strikes continue to demand higher wages across Egypt, threatening the
existing distribution of wealth. Meanwhile, the Egyptian military’s
pledge to honor Mubarak’s international agreements, including its
political and economic arrangements with Israel and the United
States, cannot be made consistent with people’s desire for a new
Egypt. Mass marches took place last week demanding that the Egyptian
government open the Rafah crossing to Gaza, and break the Israeli
siege. A more militant section raised the popular idea of breaking
relations entirely with Israel.
As long as the movement energizes poor
and working-class people, presses forward, and continues to
articulate demands in their interests, it can only evolve towards
increased confrontation with imperialism and Zionism.
This is why the Egyptian military has
done its best to delay the transition to “civilian” leadership.
This is why Washington has fully backed the Egyptian military brass
despite their consistent repression of activists; it is the same
reason they have kept relatively quiet about the repression of
Bahraini and Yemeni protesters. To the extent these movements succeed
in real regime change, they will by necessity threaten U.S. hegemony.
Long live the Egyptian
revolution—onwards to the next round of struggles and victories!
