EGYPTIAN UPRISING:THE MOMENT Egypt's military announced on national television yesterday evening that its supreme council had met without the presence of commander-in-chief Hosni Mubarak, Egyptians understood that the army had, finally, taken the side of the protesters who demanded his resignation as president.
It appeared he was going to be forced out of office. But last night the president refused to resign in spite of unprecedented protests over poverty, corruption and oppression and said he would transfer some authority to his vice-president.
Earlier the council, chaired by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, was shown seated around a table, the faces of the senior officers grim, determined.
The refusal of the hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters to abandon Egypt’s streets and squares was the main reason people thought the military had decided to put an end to Mr Mubarak’s 30-year reign.
A military man hailed as the hero of the 1973 war with Israel, the president made a major strategic mistake when he dismissed the demonstrators’ demand that he resign and tried to fob them off with gestures and promises.
The protesters were not satisfied when he appointed as his vice-president Omar Suleiman, his intelligence chief, or with the elevation to the premiership of former airforce chief Ahmad Shafiq.
He may have thought that, by choosing senior military men to run the country, he could save himself and his regime from a coup mounted by brother officers in the armed forces. He may have been correct.
According to a well-connected informant, the senior ranks of the military were uncertain about how to react to the growing popular demonstrations, while middle-ranking officers and soldiers were siding with the protesters.
The top men in the military, Egypt’s premier state institution, did not want to risk dissention and division but have succeeded in doing so.
Two political factors seem to have forced the supreme council to act – the refusal of genuine representatives of the democracy camp to negotiate with Mr Suleiman and his repeated assertion that the Egyptian people are not ready for democracy.
His stand infuriated the protesters who, throughout 17 days of mass demonstrations, have acted with great restraint in spite of brutal attacks by Mubarak loyalists and internal security elements that have killed more than 300 and wounded 5,000.
Furthermore, the protesters have put themselves under the protection of the army, which established barricades around Tahrir Square in central Cairo to prevent bloody brawls between the pro- and anti-Mubarak camps.
Now they may withdraw that trust from the army.
Observers believed the armed forces could not afford to allow the protests to continue because more and more trade unions were going on strike, threatening to shut down key sectors of the economy and even the Suez Canal, a major source of the state’s revenue.
The military is one of the largest economic stakeholders in Egypt. It owns factories, tourist facilities, real estate and trading companies.
It is estimated that the country’s economic losses have been €220 million a day since the first demonstrations took place on January 25th.
Losses from tourism alone were more than €740 million, while the central bank has been forced to prop up the Egyptian pound.