SOME 100,000 Egyptians who packed into Cairo’s Tahrir Square last night booed and roared “Go, go, go!” at the head of the ruling military council, Muhammad Hussein Tantawi, who offered concessions during a televised address to the nation.
Field marshal Tantawi announced that a government of “national salvation” would be formed to replace the interim administration led by premier Essam Sharaf. He said assembly elections would happen as scheduled on November 28th and a presidential poll held before July next year.
However, he did not set a date for the transfer of power from the army. The military council had previously suggested it would retain power until 2013.
Reacting to the speech, students wove through the tightly packed throng with a huge Egyptian flag amid chants of “We’re not leaving until the military leaves!”
When clouds of tear gas drifted through the square, protesters cried to other demonstrators, “Stay, stay!” They say they will not vacate the square, the epicentre of the revolution, unless the military council and its leader hand power to a civilian body with authority to rule until a new parliament is in place, a new constitution drafted and a new president elected.
The crowd hissed when he announced that the armed forces would not harm Egyptian civilians.
The health ministry has put the toll at 33 dead and 1,800 injured during three days of clashes between demonstrators and civil and military police in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and Ismailiya.
It is unclear whether the field marshal’s announcement will bring an end to mass demonstrations and clashes which have disrupted the parliamentary election campaign. Fearing election-day violence, a number of candidates have withdrawn.
Revolutionaries argue that if the poll is held as scheduled, parliament will be a powerless body. They suspect the military of plotting to retain a constitutional veto on legislation.
Many Egyptians believe that the army, which has exercised power since ousting Egypt’s king in 1952, is determined to dominate, in part, to preserve and protect its economic empire.
Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, a presidential candidate, was reportedly tipped to serve as prime minister of a unity government but was said to be hesitant on taking up such a post unless he has a free hand to choose his ministers. The name of Abdel Moneim Abdel Fattouh, a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood and a popular politician, has also been mentioned in relation to the premiership.