Egyptian protesters vow to fight on for reform

TENS of thousands rallied in Cairo’s Tahrir Square yesterday, trying to keep up pressure on Egypt’s military rulers to carry out reforms and calling for the dismissal of holdovers from the regime of ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

The downtown square had been the centre of an 18-day uprising that brought down Mubarak on February 11. The Egyptian military took over from Mubarak, but assigned government affairs to a caretaker cabinet until elections can be held.

Demonstrators said yesterday they are worried the army is not moving quickly enough on reforms, including repealing emergency laws, releasing political prisoners and removing members of Mubarak’s regime from power.

Thousands chanted yesterday they won’t leave until they see Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, one of the Mubarak-era holdovers, removed from office. Some waved flags of Libya to show support for the uprising Egypt’s western neighbour.

“We made Mubarak step down and we must make Shafiq also step down,” said Safwat Hegazy, a protester from the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest and best-organised opposition group.

Demonstrators said they would stage large rallies every Friday until their demands are met.

Protester Wael Hassan, 32, said he felt much still needs to be done to ensure change: “Mubarak is still free and moving around. His sons and his wife and the members of his regime are still moving freely, except for a few scapegoats.”

He said he is sceptical about the military’s resolve to fulfill all the protesters’ demands, adding that the military benefited from the old regime: “It’s the people who have to force the army to change. If we leave it to the army, we’ll be back to dictatorship again.”

Since Mubarak’s fall, the military rulers have disbanded both houses of parliament and promised constitutional reforms that will allow wider participation in elections, to be held within six months.

They have also promised to repeal emergency laws that give security forces largely unchecked powers, though only when conditions permit — a caveat that worries protesters.

Authorities have also moved against members of Mubarak’s regime, arresting a number of former ministers and prominent businessmen on corruption allegations.

Yesterday’s crowd said Muslim prayers in the square. In a sermon to the worshippers, Sheik Mohammed Jibril called for Mubarak’s National Democratic Party to be dissolved, Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency said.

He said God helped the uprising bring down bad rulers: “This is the natural end of all corruption.”