Egypt's revolutionary forces are back in Tahrir demanding early presidential elections, reports Mohamed Abdel-Baky Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets across Egypt over the last week to protest against the policies of the country's military rulers over the past year. Taking advantage of the momentum gained from the high turnout on the 25 January Revolution anniversary protests, revolutionary forces are back to Tahrir Square, pushing the newly elected parliament and the military council towards early presidential elections. In Tahrir Square protesters gathered on the first Friday after the anniversary of the revolution reiterating chants against the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), the military body that has been ruling Egypt since the ousting of Hosni Mubarak as president. Flooding out of mosques shouting "down with military rule" the Tahrir protesters were joined by groups of activists who came from other squares in Cairo chanting "'this time we'll not leave until our demands are met". "Our top priority now is to mobilise all political forces and create grassroots pressure in favour of a quick power transfer from SCAF to an elected civil president," said activist Abdel-Rahman Samir. Samir added that non-Islamist members in parliament "are willing to cooperate with us to push for this demand, as well as some presidential candidates." More than 60 revolutionary youth movements and political parties participated in the protest. The list of demands included holding presidential elections by the end of February and handing over power in April, stopping the referring of civilians to military courts, and holding the military council accountable for "committing human rights violations" against protesters over the last year. The political forces that arranged the protest included the 6 April youth movement, the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, the Revolutionary Socialists, the Justice and Freedom Youth Movement, the Free Front for Peaceful Change, the Awareness Party, the Popular Movement for the Independence of Al-Azhar and the Maspero Protesters Movement. Sheikh Mazhar Shahin, imam of the Omar Makram Mosque, said in his Friday sermon that revolutionary forces are keen on maintaining peaceful resistance and that they do not aim at bringing the country down, as the media have consistently claimed. "Revolutionaries respect the army and the judiciary as institutions, that the differences between the ruling SCAF and the protesters are purely political ones," he added. Shahin also demanded a complete and transparent audit of the Suez Canal's revenues over the past 30 years, as well as thorough audits of Mubarak and his cronies. He urged parliament to form a revolutionary court to try corrupt regime figures, stressing that all trials should be broadcast live. Thousands also marched towards the state television building in Maspero, just blocks from Tahrir, demanding the "cleansing" of state media, which they accuse of incitement against the protesters. "They are no different from Mubarak. They are the same; they have betrayed our revolution," said protester Mohamed Noman. Groups from public-owned companies joined the protesters in Tahrir calling for the current government to give their problems attention. On Tuesday thousands of protesters marched from Maspero to parliament to call on its deputies to push for early presidential elections. According to an initiative signed by 36 political groups and coalitions on Sunday and sponsored by the daily Al-Shorouk, the newly elected parliament should ensure that SCAF opens the door to presidential election candidates on 11 February, the anniversary of the day that Mubarak stepped down, with elections held by the end of April at the latest. Members of the coalitions signatory to the initiative said it was expected that Islamist presidential hopeful Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh might endorse the demands, and possibly other presidential campaigns, including Amr Moussa and Hamdeen Sabahi. "Our demand is to continue the revolution. It is to move the transfer of power to civilians forward," said Mahmoud Afifi, spokesman of 6 April. Afifi warned of remaining regime figures who still cling to positions of authority, continuing to affect the fate of Egypt. Experts believe that last week's protest brought sympathy from public opinion to the demands of the activists, though they think it is hard to achieve their goals. "It is true that the current wave of demonstrations has created a new momentum of support for the revolution's demands but it is not clear how this new dynamic would develop or where it will lead to," said Samer Suleiman, a senior member in the Social Democrats Party. He added that the revolutionary forces do not have enough power to push the Muslim Brotherhood, which controls the parliament, or the SCAF which has the executive authority to accede to their demands. Out of the capital, the situation was similar, as thousands of protesters gathered on Friday and Tuesday in solidarity with protesters in Tahrir Square. Despite the cold and heavy rain, thousands of protesters in Alexandria and Suez took to the street to protest against the SCAF, calling for holding officials who are involved in killing protesters accountable. A group of families of those killed in Suez raised photos of their sons and recounted stories of how they died on 28 January last year, the deadliest day of the demonstrations. In both cities, sit-ins were organised for the entire week by revolutionary forces, while the supporters of Islamists movements participated only on Friday. In the city of Port Said, a number of revolutionary groups staged mass protests after Friday prayers. In Damietta, thousands toured the streets across the city, starting from Al-Sherbasi Mosque to Al-Sa'a Square. Also in Tanta, thousands marched around the city demanding justice for the "martyrs of the revolution". There were also chants in solidarity with 8 April army officers who were arrested after joining protesters in Tahrir last year.
