As the anniversary of the 25 January Revolution approaches differences are growing over how it should be marked, Khaled Dawoud reports For Tarek El-Kholi, 6 April Movement and Democratic Front spokesman, there is little to celebrate on the first anniversary of the 25 January Revolution. "The key demands of the revolution have not been met yet. What we will see in less than two weeks will be the launch of a new phase of the ongoing revolution," he says. That new phase, insists El-Kholi and other members of leftist and liberal groups, will not be violent despite repeated warnings in pro-government and state-owned media that protesters are planning widespread destruction. Fears of what might happen on the first anniversary of the popular revolt that removed Hosni Mubarak from power, notes El-Kholi, originated from sources close to SCAF and were first circulated in pro-government newspapers following last month's clashes in front of the Cabinet Office in which 16 demonstrators were killed by the security forces and film of soldiers brutally attacking unarmed demonstrators were posted across the Internet. "Claiming that the anniversary of the revolution will witness violence and destruction on the part of demonstrators is part of a concerted campaign by SCAF to tarnish our image and turn ordinary citizens against us," says El-Kholi. The youth movements that started the revolt against Mubarak a year ago are facing hostility not only from Egypt's current military rulers but from the Islamist parties -- the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and the Salafist Nour Party -- whose landslide victory in the parliamentary elections makes them the military's successor. "Of course there is a lot to celebrate on 25 January," says Ahmed Abu Baraka, a leading member of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the MB's political wing. "The people are full of joy because they are now masters of their own destiny. They have elected their own representatives for the first time in our history." While representatives of 54 liberal, leftist and radical parties and coalitions signed a statement on Tuesday announcing they plan to hold demonstrations across Egypt to press for "the fulfilment of the key demands of the 25 January Revolution, on top of which is handing over power to a civilian government and president", the MB's leadership has remained mostly tight lipped. The MB will take part in the 25 January gathering to mark the anniversary of the revolution, FJP Secretary-General Saad El-Katatni confirmed on Tuesday, though he did not make clear how. Should the movement call on its supporters to turn out en masse in Tahrir Square then given past responses to such calls more radical movements will find themselves vastly outnumbered -- their presence, and demands, swamped. The revolutionary youth movements, says former leftist MP Gamal Assad, are in a double bind, for if the MB does not take part the chances are that numbers in Tahrir on 25 January will be small. The alarmist media campaign predicting violence will, he predicts, have a negative impact on turnout, "but more important is that the political landscape in Egypt has changed". "The Muslim Brotherhood feels it has gained legitimacy to rule the country through the ballot box. It now sees more revolutionary groups as a challenge to this legitimacy and will do what it can to marginalise them." There has been much speculation that the MB, desperate to see elections which it assumed it would win held earlier rather than later when its popularity might have been eroded by events on the ground, concluded a deal with SCAF soon after Mubarak's removal. While the group's leaders have denied the existence of any such understanding commentators have been quick to point out the MB's extremely low-key criticism of the military's brutal handling of recent protests. Safwat Abdel-Ghani, a leading member of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya, has made explicit what many political analysts believe is the Islamists' new modus operandi. Launching an attack on groups who have been calling for a "second revolution", he said: "We are not going to take part in any sit-ins or demonstrations. The people had their say in the elections, and they don't want to clash with SCAF." "On 25 January," Abdel-Ghani continued, "we will celebrate our victory at the ballot box and the peaceful handover of power from the military to the newly elected parliament." He then went on to blame groups like the Revolutionary Socialists and 6 April for the widespread fear that violent clashes might take place. 6 April spokesman Mahmoud Afifi rejects such accusations out of hand. "We did not use violence for 18 days during our revolution against Mubarak. Why should we use violence now?" he asks. "It is SCAF that has been using violence against us, jailing and torturing our members." He added that disagreements remain among members of groups opposed to SCAF on whether the 25 January demonstration in Tahrir should be followed by an open sit-in to pressure the military to hand over power to a civilian government. Groups critical of army rule say they do not want to wait until 30 June, the deadline set by SCAF for power to be handed to an elected president. They are demanding that SCAF's presidential prerogatives be transferred to the speaker of the newly elected parliament at the first opportunity, and that the speaker in turn set a date for presidential elections no later than April. The Muslim Brotherhood has announced its opposition to any change in SCAF's timetable. The threat of violence on 25 January is being taken seriously by many parties, including the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb who has called for a meeting of key political figures, including Mohamed Badie, the supreme guide of the MB, the Coptic Patriarch Pope Shenouda, Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri, leaders of opposition parties and several presidential hopefuls, in the hope of securing an agreement on how the anniversary should be marked. Meanwhile, SCAF has announced that it will be holding its own celebrations to mark the day at Cairo Stadium and in several other cities. SCAF member Major General Ismail Etman told reporters that a number of well known singers will take part in the celebrations that will also include fireworks and martial music, and a song Etman himself wrote to mark the event, to be performed by Hamada Hilal. SCAF's PR campaign also included the announcement that it would complete the payment of compensation promised to the families of those killed and wounded during the revolution by 25 January. The military council has also said it is looking seriously at the recommendation made by the advisory council, formed a month ago to offer advice on key policies, to increase the number of appointed members in parliament from 10 to 30. The new appointed members, the advisory council said, should be youth leaders who took part in the 25 January Revolution but failed to win seats in the new parliament.
