On April 8, thousands of Egyptians gathered for a demonstration
billed as the “Day of Cleansing” in Tahrir Square. Protesters
demanded that the country’s military rulers hand over power to a
civilian presidential council and stop trying to stall the process of
change.
A sit-in was then held until April 11, when the army brutally
cleared the square, killing one demonstrator and injuring scores of
others. Although Mubarak is gone, the Egyptian revolution is far from
over.
It has now been over two months since the Egyptian people
overthrew the dictator Hosni Mubarak. The 18-day uprising began on
Jan. 25, gained momentum with the occupation of Tahrir Square in
Cairo by demonstrators and culminated on Feb. 11 when Mubarak
resigned and ceded power to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
His pro-imperialist dictatorship enjoyed the full political
support of the United States as well as billions of dollars of U.S.
aid, but proved no match for the determination of the people of
Egypt.
Egyptian society has radically changed since the departure of
Mubarak. Not only did he resign, but mass protests forced his prime
minister, Ahmed Shafik, to resign three weeks later. The parliament,
selected in blatantly fraudulent elections, was dissolved.
After Mubarak resigned, thousands of protesters across the country
stormed the offices of the State Security Investigations Services,
the hated secret police notorious for arbitrary arrests and torture.
On March 15, the SSIS was officially disbanded.
Limitations
However, there are clear signs that reactionary forces
are trying to derail the revolution. Although there is a civilian
government in place under the relatively popular leadership of Prime
Minister Essam Sharaf, real political power is concentrated in the
Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, led by Field Marshal Mohamed
Tantawi.
Mubarak himself was a military leader and prior to the uprising
enjoyed the support of the army’s top brass. As the recipient of
most of the U.S. aid, the armed forces cultivated close ties with
imperialism. They are now trying to “manage” the transition to a
post-Mubarak Egypt.
A significant component of the revolution was a massive strike
wave in which the working class made both political and economic
demands. The military and the civilian government are now considering
a law that bans strikes.
Although many members of the regime have been investigated or
arrested for corruption and other crimes, others remain free. And
while he is under house arrest, no formal charges have been brought
against Hosni Mubarak, who many accuse of feigning sickness in order
to avoid prosecution. Mubarak’s National Democratic Party was just ordered to be formally dissolved, yet many of its leaders have already begun reconstituting their political machine under a new organizational form and are expected to continue to play a prominent role in the country’s
politics.
Constitutional referendum and transition
These contradictions were highlighted by the recent constitutional
referendum held on March 19. To pave the way for elections, the
military leadership appointed a committee to draft amendments to the
Mubarak-era constitution. The proposals included measures to limit
presidential powers and allow political parties to freely operate and
contest elections.
The formerly ruling National Democratic Party and the Muslim
Brotherhood, which recently formed the Freedom and Justice Party,
aggressively campaigned for the “yes” vote. Because these groups
are the most organizationally sophisticated, it is in their interests
to speed up the transition process before their rivals can become
competitive.
The Revolutionary Youth Coalition, composed of progressive youth
organizations that were the driving force behind the revolution,
urged their supporters to vote “no,” as did presidential hopefuls
Mohammed ElBaradei and Amr Moussa. They argued that a new
constitution should be written before elections were held, rather
than just reforms.
Partially motivated by concern that a victory for “no” would
lead to prolonged military rule, over three-quarters of voters
supported the amendments. As a result, parliamentary and presidential
elections will be held later this year. The task of writing and
approving a new constitution will be shelved until 2012.
The movement continues
Despite this setback, the people are continuing to mobilize to
defend and expand the revolution. The April 8 demonstration was just
one of many protests held after Friday prayers since Mubarak was
overthrown. Some protesters are now calling for the resignation of
Tantawi, chanting “The people demand that the Field Marshal be
toppled.”
Another trend that is alarming the military rulers and Western
imperialists is the growing expression of the pro-Palestinian mood of
the Egyptian people. Egypt has been an important proxy for U.S.
dominance of the Middle East for several decades. It has helped
maintain the blockade of Gaza, imposed shortly after Hamas won
democratic elections in 2006.
Now that Mubarak is gone, there is the possibility of a
significant shift in Egypt’s orientation in regional and world
affairs. Many of the organizations involved in the revolution,
including the Muslim Brotherhood, are demanding that the blockade be
lifted. There have also been popular calls for Egypt to stop
supplying natural gas to Israel.
Over one million Egyptians attended an anti-Israel rally on April 8,
burning Israeli flags in outrage at the atrocities committed against
the Palestinian people. Later, a group marched to the Israeli embassy
and attempted to raise the Palestinian flag over the building.
Mubarak himself may be gone, but many components of his regime are
yet to be dismantled. Faced with the thinly veiled hostility of a
military leadership that claims to support the revolution, the only
recourse available to the Egyptian people is to once more take to the
streets in massive numbers.
Egypt is the most populous and powerful Arab country, with a rich
history of resistance to imperialism. In the midst of the uprisings
sweeping the Middle East, it has the potential to play a critical
role in helping assert the independence of the region. If the country
is to once again become a champion of Arab dignity and unity, the
Egyptian masses must completely uproot the old regime and the
pro-imperialist, comprador capitalists who control it.
