Commentators say that by simply repeating the army's version of events leading to this week's violent clashes in Qasr Al-Aini the government is undermining its credibility, writes Reem Leila Three days after the most recent clashes in Cairo erupted on 16 December Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri issued nine decrees in an apparent attempt to defuse public anger at his government. Among the beneficiaries were employees of the Education Ministry, who were granted a 50 per cent bonus increase and 24,000 small farmers who found the interest they owe on loans cut by a fifth. El-Ganzouri also announced a cap on public service salaries of 35 times the minimum wage, a move many commentators say is meaningless given that the bulk of highly paid public service employees' remuneration is in the form of discretionary bonuses and not basic pay, and delayed the levying of the new real estate tax until mid-2013. El-Ganzouri also appointed Taymour Imam as head of the National Centre to Provide Care to Revolution Martyrs' Families, Nashwa Mohamed Hafez as assistant to the executive manager for communication with the revolution's injured, Khaled Abdel-Aziz as head of the National Youth Council and Emad Mustafa as head of National Sports Council. "The decrees are an attempt to bribe and deceive people," says Cairo University professor of political science Hassan Nafaa. Egypt's pressing political problems, argues Nafaa, require radical solutions and not the kind of economic tweaking offered by El-Ganzouri. Egyptians need to know whether presidential elections will precede a new constitution or vice versa, not how long real estate tax is to be delayed. During an 18 December press conference El-Ganzouri addressed the violence in which 14 demonstrators were killed by security forces and military police attempting to disperse demonstrators who had staged a sit-in in front of the Cabinet Office. He condemned the throwing of stones at the Cabinet building, the breaking of the third gate of the People's Assembly, the smashing of security cameras, the setting alight of the Institute d'Egypte and the burning of cars outside the Cabinet's premises. "What is happening is not a revolution but an attack on the revolution," said El-Ganzouri. "There are some people who do not want stability." Security expert Major General Sameh Seif El-Yazal insists that there are no grounds for accusing the military police and central security forces of using undue force. "What do people want?" he asked. "How would they stop these attacks on public buildings? The army and police cannot stand by doing nothing." "I am against using violence against protesters. But there is a dire need to reveal the truth of what's going on," El-Yazal continued. Protesters have the right to peacefully demonstrate, "but when the army and security forces receive information about attacks on the Egyptian museum, when they see civilians stoning the People's Assembly and burning the Institute d'Egypte they have to react." Security and police personnel, claims El-Yazal, had deliberately kept a low profile to avoid escalating tensions. "But as time passed things began to get out of control. Accordingly, the Armed Forces asked for the help of the Central Security Forces." More than 160 protesters were subsequently detained, accused of attacks on 200 policemen and attempting to destroy government property. "The real perpetrators of this chaos must be exposed," railed El-Yazal. "El-Ganzouri's speech was very provocative," says Nafaa. "It was the speech of a man completely detached from reality, caught up in redundant strategies. El-Ganzouri blamed conspiracies and hidden perpetrators, as if ghosts are behind Egypt's troubles." But there is nothing ghost-like about those seeking to induce chaos, insists Nafaa. The culprits are the very people who supported president Hosni Mubarak. "The perpetrators are placing the country on the rink of chaos with the direct and indirect protection of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). SCAF was against the succession scenario [Mubarak passing the presidency to his non-military son] which is why they supported the revolution initially. But it was a tactical move. They clearly do not support the revolution itself. SCAF is against any kind of radical change." SCAF now has a number of questions it must answer, says Nafaa. Who were the people on the rooftops of the buildings surrounding the protesters and pelting them with rocks, glass and other projectiles? And why did it take so long to begin dealing with the fire at the Institute d'Egypte? Emad Gad, a political analyst at Al-Ahram's Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, also found El-Ganzouri's speech problematic. "It did not present anything new. He simply heaped all blame on the protesters, just as SCAF does." Gad does, however, hope that the prime minister's decrees are a first step towards restoring stability and were not intended as a temporary sedative. "El-Ganzouri's decrees were notable in that young people were promoted for the first time to important posts." It is unfortunate, he says, that they came so late in the day. "If these decisions had been taken earlier, by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, the situation would have been calmed." Meanwhile, more than 40 activists and newly elected members of the People's Assembly -- including Amr Hamzawy, Mustafa El-Naggar, Mohamed Abdel-Moneim El-Sawi and George Ishaq -- began an open sit-in in front of Supreme Court of Justice to protest the violence meted out to peaceful demonstrators. They are demanding a swift investigation into the clashes as well as a speedier transfer of power. "SCAF's account of what happened could not convince anyone who is following events," said Kifaya founder Ishaq. "SCAF showed film footage of injured soldiers. They failed to show any footage, and there is a great deal about, of soldiers attacking the demonstrators. In its press conference the army chose to ignore shocking film of soldiers beating and kicking a young girl whom they drag by the hair, almost naked along the street." The activists have also called on protesters to abandon Qasr Al-Aini Street in favour of Tahrir Square.
