[guide.chat] egypt protest

From: "vanessa" <qwerty1234567a@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "GUIDE CHAT" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:01:50 -0000
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Tahrir Square on Friday for a mass 
rally aimed at pushing Egypt's ruling military to cede power, 10 months after 
an uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak's regime.
As legislative elections draw near -- the first polls since Mubarak was ousted 
in February -- protesters are demanding more control over the constitution the 
new parliament is set to draft.
They want the withdrawal of a government document that proposes supra 
constitutional principles, which could see the military's budget shielded from 
public scrutiny.
Friday's protests are led by the powerful Muslim Brotherhood and groups of 
varying political stripes under different banners who all agree that the 
military must transfer power to a civilian government as soon as possible.
"The people want a timetable for the handover of power," read one large banner 
hanging over the square.
Delivering the Muslim prayer sermon, imam Mazhar Shahin urged protesters to 
keep defending the goals of the revolution.
"Perhaps those who rule us think we will forget our cause with the passage of 
time. They are deluded and mistaken," he warned the ruling Supreme Council of 
the Armed Forces (SCAF), which took power when Mubarak was ousted.
"We reject the imposition of dictates on the people, we reject Silmi's 
document. No voice can drown out the voice of the people," Shahin told the 
crowd.
The contested government document, presented by Deputy Prime Minister Ali 
Silmi, drew fire from most quarters for including clauses that removed the 
military's budget from parliamentary oversight and allowed the SCAF a final say 
on military-related matters.
The government revised the draft, but Islamists, who organised a mass protest 
in July against such a charter, have rejected the very idea of a document that 
would limit parliament's authority to draft the constitution, branding the 
articles undemocratic.
The Brotherhood, through its Freedom and Justice Party, may emerge as the 
largest bloc in the election, the first since the fall of Mubarak.
"Those who fear Islamist movements in Egypt, I tell them don't be scared of 
Islam in Egypt," Shahin said.
"Egypt is Islamic, like it or not... We want a civic democratic state with an 
Islamic vision that allows people to practise their rights and democracy," he 
said.
Adham Hani left his home in the central province of Minya to join the Tahrir 
protest.
"We need the cancellation of the constitutional principles, we need a date for 
presidential elections," said the 25-year-old.
"Parliament will have no sovereignty as long as the SCAF is in charge," Hani 
said.
Close by, the head of the fundamentalist Gamaa Islamiya, Tarek al-Zomor, told 
AFP that the constitutional principles were a "circumvention of the people's 
will."
"We are here to stress the necessity of a timetable to civilian rule. If that 
doesn't happen, then it confirms the conspiracy to rob the revolution," Zomor 
added.
The SCAF, which took charge after Mubarak's ouster and suspended the 
constitution and parliament, says it will hand over power once a new president 
is elected.
Parliamentary elections will start on November 28 and are expected to end in 
March.
Friday's demonstration comes a day after 25 people were injured when a Coptic 
Christian march came under attack by assailants throwing stones and bottles.
Copts, who make up roughly 10 percent of Egypt's 80 million people, complain of 
discrimination in the Muslim-majority country.
There has been a spike in sectarian clashes since Mubarak was toppled.

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[guide.chat] egypt protest

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