Last Friday's protest saw a majority of political groups united in their goals, reports Mohamed Abdel-Baky Commentators agree that last Friday's protest, which saw thousands of Egyptians take to the streets in cities across the country, was successful in rallying cross-party support against the constitutional declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) setting dates for the parliamentary elections and amending the electoral law. Among the groups that participated in the Friday of Reclaiming the Revolution were the National Association for Change (NAC), the 6 April Movement, the Youth Revolution Coalition (YRC), the Union of Revolutionary Youth, the Wafd, Tagammu Party, Wasat, Adl Party, Karama and Egyptian Communist Parties. The Second Friday of Anger, a Facebook page with thousands of supporters, also urged people to take to the streets. Islamist political forces were divided over the protest. The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, the Nour, Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya and Alexandria-based Salafist groups all boycotted the protest. Others, including the Salafi Front, Fadila, Islah, Asala, Nahda, Tahrir Al-Masry and Sawt Al-Horreya parties, the Coalition of Support for New Muslims, and supporters of presidential candidate Hazem Abu Ismail, took part in the protest. The National Association for Change issued a statement on Sunday saying the protest marked the first stage in escalating actions intended to pressure the SCAF into "listening to the voice of the people". Meanwhile, six presidential candidates issued a joint statement demanding that power be handed to an elected civilian parliament and president by March. "The state of emergency ended on 30 September... under Article 59 of the first constitutional declaration any decision or judicial ruling based on emergency law issued after that is without constitutional legitimacy," said the statement. The six also demanded that members of the now defunct National Democratic Party be prevented from standing in the forthcoming elections and asked the SCAF to reconsider its constitutional declaration and accept that political forces were right to demand an exclusively party list system. Under the latest declaration People's Assembly elections will begin on 28 November and end on 3 January 2012. Shura Council elections will begin on 29 January. Two thirds of parliamentary seats will be decided through the party list voting system, one third through individual candidacy. Last Friday the atmosphere in Tahrir Square was festive. Popular committees secured access and diverted traffic. The police and military had earlier announced that they would not be present at demonstrations. When a small march took off from Tahrir Square for the Defence Ministry in Abbasiya many activists expressed concern it would lead to clashes. In communiqué 75 the military council had warned that it would not tolerate any attack on army units or buildings. Military police and security forces subsequently closed all roads leading to the ministry. And the small group of marchers returned to Tahrir. The 6 April Movement and YRC quickly issued statements distancing themselves from the march. Friday's protest, says political analyst Amr El-Shobaky, sent a clear message to the SCAF that no fudge on democratic transition will be tolerated. It was a message that the conspicuous absence of the Muslim Brotherhood did little to dilute.
