Roche helps Egypt expand digital pathology and AI diagnostics    Egypt's residential property prices soar up to 30% in H1 2025    Cairo Capital Developments delivers first phase of Lake West 1    Egypt to offer new incentives for expats, host August conference    Al-Sisi meets US CENTCOM chief to discuss military ties, Gaza ceasefire    SCO partnership supports Egypt's modernization, regional stability: Chinese ambassador    New massacre of aid seekers in Gaza amid escalation, worsening starvation crisis    Egypt to host Gaza reconstruction talks after ceasefire secured    Golden View launches TO-GTHER mixed-use project in New Cairo    Two militants killed in foiled plot to revive 'Hasm' operations: Interior ministry    Egyptian pound shows stability in Sunday trading    Egypt foils terrorist plot, kills two militants linked to Hasm group    58 days that exposed IMF's contradictions on Egypt    Egypt, Somalia discuss closer environmental cooperation    Egypt's Health Minister reviews upgrades at Gustave Roussy Hospital    Giza Pyramids' interior lighting updated with new LED system    Sandoz Egypt introduces OMNITROPE 15mg biosimilar growth hormone for the treatment of short stature    Egypt's EHA, Huawei discuss enhanced digital health    Egypt's EDA explores pharma cooperation with Belarus    Egypt expresses condolences to Iraq over fire tragedy    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Korea Culture Week in Egypt to blend K-Pop with traditional arts    CIB finances Giza Pyramids Sound and Light Show redevelopment with EGP 963m loan    Egypt, Uruguay eager to expand trade across key sectors    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    Egypt's Democratic Generation Party Evaluates 84 Candidates Ahead of Parliamentary Vote    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Safe exit
Published in Al-Ahram Weekly on 21 - 07 - 2011


By Salama A Salama
Nothing is worse for a revolution than obscurity of purpose. In our case, this obscurity has brought about a clash of wills -- let alone a divergence of pace -- between the revolutionaries and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF)
which, after all, is the guardian of the revolution. The government, which was chosen by pure accident from the street, is caught in the middle, pressured and bewildered.
For the past five months, SCAF, the revolutionaries, and the government don't seem to be reading from the same page. The only point of agreement is that the old regime had to be uprooted. Other than that, everything else has been in dispute: how to handle security, how to try the old regime's men, and what to do with Hosni Mubarak. Even the termination of service for officers accused of killing the revolutionaries became a bone of contention.
The fact is that no evolution can move forward if it keeps dancing to its own music, the music that comes from the street. This music may seem enchanting, and is definitely loud, but it is also precarious. We cannot bring down everything we have before putting the alternatives in place.
The revolutionaries need to start thinking of the millions of toiling people who do not come to the Tahrir Square and do not seek radical change and fail to see a point in undermining the army.
Ordinary people know that the army, even if its actions are perceived as slow, is the only protection we have. The army is what saved Egypt from the kind of horrors unfolding in Yemen, Libya and Syria.
The revolution doesn't belong to the revolution alone, but to all of Egypt, young and old, men and women, peasants and office workers, rich and poor.
To be fair to the revolutionaries who gathered in Tahrir Square on the "Revolution First" Friday, one must acknowledge the fact that it was the protesters that kept away the thugs, the hypocrites, and agent provocateurs from the square. For all their divergent opinions and multiple speaking forums, they managed to keep the peace. Theirs was a model worth following in future demonstrations.
The revolution, I reiterate, doesn't belong to the revolutionaries alone. If they get too cocky to sense what the rest of the nation wants, they will end up estranged. So many revolutions have been caught up in a deadly cycle of bickering and power struggle.
We do not all work at the same speed. The revolutionaries are pushing SCAF to do things faster than it wishes or can. And the government, which is transitional in nature, answers basically to SCAF. You may have noticed how the government wavered in the matter of taking loans from the IMF and the World Bank. Or how the Ministry of Information was cancelled and then reinstated. Or how confused everyone is when it comes to whether to have the constitution or the elections first.
In a sea of hoped-for changes, of which only a small fraction have materialised, the judiciary remains our Rock of Gibraltar, and we must stick to standard legal procedure. We can call for speedy trials but not the guillotine. We cannot repeat the mistakes of other revolutions, when we're still regretting those of 1952.
Each time a one-million-man march takes to the street, I wonder: how can the revolution achieve a safe exit from Tahrir Square? The square is not wide enough for its horizon, and it is not big enough for its goals. The revolution has to find another way of action. It has to find a wider path, for the sake of this country and everyone who lives in it.


Clic here to read the story from its source.