The army is increasingly at loggerheads with demonstrators, writes Galal Nassar The past few weeks have witnessed a marked deterioration in the relationship between the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and demonstrators in Tahrir Square and other parts of Egypt. Protesters have taken to the streets once more to demand police officers accused of killing demonstrators during the 25 January Revolution face justice. They have also demanded speedier prosecution of key figures from the former regime, including Hosni Mubarak and his senior aides. They also want the ministries of interior and justice and the media to be purged of remnants of the old regime, an end to military trials for civilians and an increase in the minimum wage. The "people and the army are one" may once have been the dominant slogan but now protesters are making no secret of their impatience with the SCAF. Their criticism of Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and his deputy, Chief of Staff Sami Anan, is particularly sharp. The message sent by the Revolutionary Youth Coalition to the SCAF was uncompromising: "If you cannot change things and meet the demands of the revolution, calls for which the blood of the martyrs has been shed, then you will have to change, for the Egyptian people are the sole source of authority, and they are the ones who impart authority and take it away. The Egyptian people are the ones who gave legitimacy to the SCAF even before the latter took over on 11 February�ê� The people gave legitimacy to the SCAF when they decided to withdraw from Tahrir Square and left the running of the country to the SCAF in the hope of seeing change happening and seeing the demands of the revolution met. The SCAF promised to meet these demands in its message to the Egyptian people on 11 February, following Mubarak's departure, and in subsequent messages. Six months on nothing has been achieved..." The SCAF answered with its own strongly worded statement. Communiqu�� 67 was delivered by Major General Mohsen El-Fangari on Tuesday. He said that the SCAF has no intention of abandoning its role in running the country and will not tolerate any attempt to "pounce on" power and legitimacy. The SCAF, he added, is committed to the interim plan for parliamentary and presidential elections and to the writing of a permanent constitution of the country. El-Fangari said that a document of "prudent" principles will be prepared and announced in a constitutional declaration approved by political groups and parties. He pointed out that the prime minister has full powers and that no restrictions are being placed on the implementation of government policy. The SCAF's communiqu�� was firm in language and issued clear warnings to anyone violating the peaceful nature of the demonstrations, impeding work in government departments, or spreading rumours. El-Fangari called for continued dialogue between the SCAF and the revolutionaries to find a way out of the crisis. Several SCAF members then held a news conference to explain the communiqu��. They pointed out that some people are trying to undermine Egypt's stability and derail its revolution. They called on the nation to remain alert and united and to shoulder its responsibilities. Some, including the Muslim Brotherhood, welcomed the SCAF statement. But the protesters, who are still holding a sit-in in Tahrir Square, described the statement as disappointing. That Egyptians have gathered in Tahrir Square and other parts of the country shows, they said, that no one is above the revolution, not even the SCAF. The Egyptian people, they added, are holding on to their demands. They will not end the sit-in until the revolution's demands are met in full. Protest marches are being planned. Three have been held so far. One started in Bulaq Al-Dakrour and ended in Tahrir on Monday. Another started in Tahrir and ended with a sit-in in front of the cabinet building on Tuesday. The third was scheduled to start on Wednesday at Kit Kat and head to Tahrir. Protesters gathered in front of the cabinet building said that they rejected the Essam Sharaf government and have no confidence in its promises. Some of them said that Mohamed El-Baradei, ex-chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, should head an interim government to run elections, write a new constitution, and supervise trials. Young people in Suez staged what they called the "Friday of the Canal Revolution", declaring solidarity with protesters camping beside the Suez Canal. Amin Dahshour, a lawyer for some of the families of protesters murdered by security forces during the revolution, said the sit-in would continue until the demands of the revolution are met. Ayman Naguib, speaking for the Suez Youth Bloc, called on Egyptians to stand together to achieve the demands of the revolution. The sit-in, he added, will only end when the SCAF meets the demands of the revolutionaries in full. Veteran activist and journalist Hamdi Qandil says the current situation is a reflection of the loss of trust in the SCAF. The revolutionaries, he says, now believe that the SCAF is behaving exactly as the former regime. They do not believe that the SCAF has any intention of placing Mubarak or any other key figures of the former regime in an open court. Presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi said that the "partnership that emerged on 28 January was between the people and the army". "Since then responsibility has been born by the SCAF and not the interim government. The latter is incapable of introducing change. The SCAF is the one calling all the shots." Despite the resentment with which his speech to the nation on Saturday was met, Essam Sharaf continued to try to regain the confidence of the revolutionaries. On Sunday he met with a delegation and presented them with a roadmap for the next few weeks containing the following promises: the Interior Ministry would be purged by Friday 15 July, with 1,400 police officers �ê" some of them accused of involvement in the killing of demonstrators �ê" dismissed or sent into retirement; a sweeping cabinet reshuffle on 17 July; a purge of government-run media, including newspapers, the radio and television, on 30 July and a complete restructuring of the Higher Press Council. On 31 July, said Sharaf, a decree would be issued appointing new governors. Following a meeting with the SCAF Sharaf delivered a speech on Monday night reiterating his promises. Cabinet sources told Al-Ahram Weekly that the promises Sharaf made will be met within the timetable outlined by the prime minister and were fully supported by the SCAF. On Wednesday morning, two days before the date Sharaf had announced, the Interior Ministry ordered the retirement of the first batch of police officers. Sources have spoken to the Weekly of the bitterness felt by members of the SCAF over the scathing criticism they have faced, especially the suggestion that they harboured sympathies towards a regime they helped bring down. Members of the SCAF claim that when they issued communiqu�� number one, in which they left the former president no option but to step down, they were taking a big risk. Had the revolution failed at that point, the entire SCAF would have faced trial or even execution. In other words, SCAF members feel that, like the revolutionaries, they risked their lives to help the revolution succeed. "Sometimes they accuse the SCAF of making a deal with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamist groups and sometimes they say that it is grooming one of its members for the presidency. Sometimes they claim that the SCAF is conspiring with Arab countries which want the former president and his family released and sometimes they say that the SCAF is buckling under Western pressure. These claims all impinge on the idea of a partnership between the army and the people. The army is being depicted as one of occupation, treasonous and counter-revolutionary," a source close to the SCAF told the Weekly. According to the same source, SCAF members suspect a campaign to turn the army against its leaders, which could easily endanger national security. "How else can you interpret the threat to force the SCAF out of power and replace it with individuals acceptable to the revolutionaries?" he asked. "This is a call for a military coup, a dangerous game at a time when we need to pass safely through the interim period." According to the source, the army has refused to react to such provocations or use violence against any citizen. It is eager to avoid repeating mistakes made earlier by the police. The army, he added, offered 180,000 martyrs in Egypt's wars to liberate Arab and Egyptian land from 1948 to 1973. Such a record obliges its personnel and commanders to protect the homeland, support the revolution and turn Egypt into a modern, civil, law-abiding country. "Perhaps the pace may not be up to speed when it is a matter of taking decisions that satisfy the people in the street. Decisions are taken following political and strategic assessments and this makes them look tardy. But the reason is not to protect the figures of the ousted regime as some say. The SCAF takes decisions after analysing every aspect, looking into every possibility, and weighing internal and external repercussions. The only thing that the SCAF cares for is the country's higher interests." Irritated by the criticisms received and poorly prepared for the rough and tumble methods of the new political scene, the SCAF is trying new things. Having issued communiqu�� number 67, belatedly some would say, the SCAF decided to appoint a new minister of information who is expected to act as a spokesman for the SCAF and the government. The SCAF also asked the prime minister to deliver his first speech in reaction to the demands of the revolutionaries. Sharaf has been the one speaking to the nation since, allowing the SCAF to withdraw from the public scene and thus avoid criticism that may undermine the morale of the army or grate against the sensitivities of SCAF members, many of whom believe the criticism to which they are being subjected is beneath their dignity and unbefitting their honourable record in protecting the nation. The SCAF is said to be examining all the demands made by the protesters in Tahrir Square and other parts of the country. It is examining the possibility of setting a minimum and maximum wage and ways to purge the country from the influence of members of the now disbanded National Democratic Party. As for the speedy trial of symbols of the old regime, a military source told the Weekly that it was up to the judiciary to decide. Speeding up the trials could have a negative effect, especially with regard to reclaiming smuggled assets. Countries where assets are held are unlikely to return them unless the trials are fair and orderly. According to the source, the SCAF refuses to interfere in judicial matters. The decision to hold public trials or speed up the legal process is not one for the SCAF or the government, but for the Supreme Judiciary Council. The source added that dialogue was underway with the Supreme Judiciary Council in this regard and that the latter had agreed to make the trials public. They will be aired on large screens outside the courtrooms so that the families of the martyrs and ordinary citizens can watch the proceedings. Law professor Hossam Eissa said nationalist groups do not question the patriotism or sincerity of the SCAF, but that there is a gap between the SCAF's decisions and the expectations of the public. The SCAF makes decisions and passes laws without consulting ordinary citizens, Eissa stated. He urged closer consultation between the SCAF and the revolutionaries. Political science professor Mustafa Kamel El-Sayed believes the SCAF has been late in responding to the Friday demonstrations because "it thinks that what is happening in Tahrir is just a burst of energy or a call for reform, not a revolution". "The SCAF assumed the revolutionaries would give up." Sawt Al-Umma's Editor-in-Chief Abdel-Halim Qandil argues that "the SCAF is coming under external pressures." "It must be honest about what happens behind the scene because frankly we are beginning to lose confidence in it." Ammar Ali Hassan, activist and director of the Middle East Studies Centre, suggests that it would be better for the SCAF to remain silent. "It just upsets everyone when it speaks. It has taken the country into turmoil. The measures it is taking have nothing to do with the demands or spirit of the revolution." Speaking in the same vein, Abul-Ezz El-Hariri, member of the Socialist Popular Alliance, said that the SCAF is acting as if it were appointed by the old regime and not answerable to the revolutionary spirit in the streets. "Either it acts in the spirit of the revolution or it should step down and allow a civilian council to run the transitional phase". Military expert Abdel-Moneim Kato believes "the SCAF has been watching the situation closely till Tuesday." "It knew everything that was happening in the streets and examined all the demands very carefully. It is not, as some say, indifferent." Current criticism of the SCAF, and the concomitant disruption of the economy, must, says Kato, "please the men incarcerated in Tora". In keeping with the stern tone of communiqu�� number 67, the army has tightened security on the Qasr Al-Aini area, to avoid any attacks on the cabinet and Interior Ministry. Security has also been upgraded around the Central Bank, the Radio and Television Building, the Egyptian Stock Exchange, foreign embassies, and other vital areas. The commander of the Third Field Army said that the Suez Canal is a "red line" and will be kept safe and open at all times. According to Brigadier General Mohamed Raafat, no attempts have been made to disrupt navigation in the Suez Canal, and the revolutionaries and popular committees of Suez are helping the army in its efforts to protect the canal. The army has also declared a state of alert along borders with Israel, Libya, and Sudan in order to prevent possible infiltration by saboteurs. A state of alert has also been declared at airports and harbours, and security has been strengthened along the natural gas pipelines. Noting that the demands of the revolutionaries are being met, a military source told the Weekly that "the SCAF cannot allow chaos or economic paralysis to prevail." (see pp.2-5)
