BICOM

At least 11 people are reported to have died over the weekend in the worst outbreak of civil unrest in Egypt since the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak earlier this year.  Clashes between demonstrators and the security forces erupted on Friday at a mass demonstration called by the opposition April 6^th movement at Tahrir Square in Cairo.  Clashes between protesters and security forces are still continuing. The April 6^th movement has formulated five demands that it is calling for the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to fulfil in order for Tahrir Square to be vacated by the protesters. The demands include the dismissal of Interior Minister and former prime minister Esam Sharaf.

The protests reflect concerns in Egypt that SCAF is seeking to prolong and perhaps make permanent its rule. The issuing by the ruling council of a document of principles intended to lay out the fundamentals of a new constitution was the immediate precipitating factor for the unrest.  The document vests the army with considerable policy-making powers, including the right to define ‘security threats’.  It also provided for no process of civilian oversight of the army. In this regard, it is important to recall that the regime over which Hosni Mubarak presided was not a personalised dictatorship. Rather, it was an army officers’ regime, in existence since 1952, of which he was the selected senior member. This regime still exists as the key holder of power in Egypt, and many oppositionists consider it is seeking to make permanent its rule through its management of the current political process.

The clashes also expose divisions between the opposition, with the Muslim Brotherhood largely staying away from them. The Brotherhood suspect their rivals of fomenting unrest in order to delay elections, because of the Brotherhood’s expected success at the polls.  Parliamentary elections in Egypt are scheduled to commence on the 28^th November.