CAIRO: Thousands of police staff and aides joined the ongoing workers strikes and entered into an open strike on Monday and Tuesday across Egypt. Large numbers protested on Monday morning outside the Egyptian cabinet, calling for better financial rights and the “cleansing” of the ministry of interior from the old regime affiliates, who they said are behind the corruption that brought the security institution to its knees during the Egyptian uprising. Hundreds of the police are still camped outside the cabinet and the ministry's headquarter in downtown Cairo and vowed not to leave before a proper response to their demands is presented. The police staff are also asking for the resignation of current Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawi, saying he is “not fit for the position” and asking for a civilian minister in his place. The strikers promised not to cut any roads or jeopardize stability in the areas they protest in after reports roads in rural areas of the country had been cut. For its part, the ministry issued a statment saying they will respond to the financial demands of its police and promised to look into the matter shortly, yet the ministry's statement didn't put an end to the strike, which keeps growing in large numbers. The ministry also conducted meetings with leaders from the strike and promised to review their demands, but accused the remaining strikers of “wanting more demands” other than those agreed upon. The strikers said their demands are not just financial, but they wish to end the erroneous methods in which the ministry is run by and “start anew.” The police and aides coalition's official Facebook page, one of the organizers of the protest, called on Egyptians to not believe false news about their strike, especially from state TV, adding that their most important demand is to rebuild the ministry and the police institutions without all the “old corruptions in alliance with the revolution spirit.” On Tuesday, thousands more from other cities around the country joined the strike. Thousands of police from the city of Port Said arrived in Cairo earlier on Tuesdsay with the intention of supporting their colleagues. Egypt's police enjoyed a notorious reputation of torture, murder and corruption under the former regime. The Egyptian revolution that erupted on January 25, national police day in Egypt, was fuelled largely by hate of police cruelty after the death of activists while in police custody in recent years. The case of the late Khaled Said, who died after being beaten to death by police for posting a video exposing police corruption sparked great anger and helped mobilize people to protest. BM
