Sunday, February 06, 2011
Jan25 on the Guardian
Egypt: Why 25 January will be a date enshrined in the country's history
On the day the people decided to sever their final links with the days of the pharoahs, the rebirth of a nation began
25 January is a date that will be forever remembered in Egypt. That was the day when the Egyptian people decided to end the country's last pharaonic dynasty with a people's revolution. Egyptians, it seems, were ashamed that Tunisians did it first and were determined to have their revolution too. Young Egyptians joined the "Khaled Saeed" Facebook group to launch the call for an uprising against tyranny, oppression, torture, corruption and injustice. The group was named after a young Egyptian man beaten to death by police.
That call was echoed on other Facebook groups, on blogs and on Twitter. El Ghad and a number of youth protest movements embraced the call from an early stage and started to mobilise support throughout the country. Many sceptics took the view that you cannot set a date for revolution, but although Egyptians are not the most punctual of people, this was a date they kept.
On 25 January, Egyptians took to the streets in almost every major town and city. The police tried to crush the protests, but unarmed people stood firm against water cannons, armoured carriers and teargas. Three days later, on the "Friday of rage", more than a million Egyptians took to the streets in support of the uprising. Anti-riot police used maximum force but finally had to retreat – and then they disappeared altogether, from Cairo and other major cities, in what appeared to be a conspiracy to plunge the country into chaos.
The army had to step in and were immediately embraced by protesters, who took photos with them and climbed on to their tanks. Mubarak came on TV that evening, offering a government reshuffle and warning of chaos. The protesters were disappointed and have vowed to remain in protest until their demands are met.
This is a revolution of the people. After eight days of protests, Mubarak started to get the hint – that he is no longer wanted as a president by his own people. The president's termination letter has been sealed by millions of Egyptians. After 30 years of ruling Egypt, the 83-year-old man has clearly become detached from reality.
After the November elections last year, when the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) "won" more than 90% of the seats amid reports of widespread fraud and irregularities, the opposition National Assembly for Change developed what is now known as the people's parliament – a sort of shadow parliament with 100 members from various opposition parties and movements in addition to independents. The people's parliament elected a committee of 10 members to start a dialogue with the regime in order to put people's demands into action.
The demands of the protesters were beautifully crystallised in two chants: "The people want the regime down" and "Bread, freedom and human dignity". In political terms, the first demand relates to dismantling the authoritarian regime and installing democracy in Egypt. This means breaking down a culture of corruption emodied in the ruling NDP party, and restructuring the state security police to focus on criminal activities rather than meddle with the political process in defence of the status quo.
The protesters also demanded the dissolution of both chambers of the parliament as well as local councils, all of which were elected by a theatrical political process controlled by the regime and its security apparatus. For this to happen, the people's parliament proposed a peaceful transition of power through negotiating a national unity government of all political forces and protest movements in addition to the military. This transition government should oversee drafting a new constitution and laying out the rules of a political process that allows parties, civil society organisations and unions freely to emerge. This, in turn, can be followed by free and fair elections.
New political facts have emerged from this "revolution". The Egyptian people have demonstrated that they may be patient and peaceful to a fault, but they surely know how to make their voices heard at home and around the world. The way these spontaneous demonstrations took place and maintained a unity of demands, despite the blackout on mobile communication and stoppage of internet service, proves that a new collective conscience has been born in Egypt. In fact, Egypt itself has in these last few days been reborn.
Ayman Nour, leader of the El Ghad party, was imprisoned in 2005 by President Mubarak and released on health grounds in 2009.
Wael Nawara is a leading Egyptian writer.
Saturday, February 05, 2011
On #Jan25 on PBS News Hour
Protest Movement Must Be Sustained
By feedbot ~ Posted Fri, 02/04/2011 - 4:03pm
JIM LEHRER: We begin with Egypt, where vast crowds of protesters assembled in central Cairo today. It was the latest attempt to force President Mubarak to resign immediately. And there was growing talk of how to form a transitional government.
But the prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, said 95 percent of Egyptians want Mubarak to stay until a new president is elected in September.
The scene on the streets was relatively peaceful, after two days of violence that saw 11 people killed, hundreds more wounded.
Behind the scenes, U.S. officials conferred with top Egyptian officials today. And President Obama talked of a transition that begins now.
He spoke after meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the White House.
U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I believe that President Mubarak cares about his country. He is proud, but he is also a patriot.
And what I suggested to him is, is that he needs to consult with those who are around him in his government. He needs to listen to what's being voiced by the Egyptian people and make a judgment about a pathway forward that is orderly but that is meaningful and serious.
And I believe that he's already said that he's not going to run for re-election. This is somebody who's been in power for a very long time in Egypt. Having made that psychological break, that decision that he will not be running again, I think the most important for him to ask himself, for the Egyptian government to ask itself, as well as the opposition to ask itself is, how do we make that transition effective and lasting and legitimate?
And, as I said before, that's not a decision ultimately the United States makes or any country outside of Egypt makes. What we can do, though, is affirm the core principles that are going to be involved in that transition.
If you end up having just gestures towards the opposition, but it leads to a continuing suppression of the opposition, that's not going to work. If you have the pretense of reform, but not real reform, that's not going to be effective.
And, as I said before, once the president himself announced that he was not going to be running again and since his term is up relatively shortly, the key question he should be asking himself is, how do I leave a legacy behind in which Egypt is able to get through this transformative period? And my hope is, is that he will end up making the right decision.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Margaret Warner is in Cairo.
And today she sat down with a key opposition figure, the writer Wael Nawara. He helped found the El Ghad -- or Tomorrow -- party, 17 years ago, along with another prominent activist, Ayman Nour.
Nawara was at today's demonstration at Tahrir Square, and he spoke with Margaret afterwards.
MARGARET WARNER: Wael Nawara, thank you for joining us.
WAEL NAWARA, Secretary-General, Tomorrow Party: Thank you.
MARGARET WARNER: This was billed, today's, as the day of departure, the day that would force President Mubarak to recognize he had to leave. As of this evening, he is still in power.
WAEL NAWARA: Well, you know, it's very unfortunate that we become stubborn before the will of the people, because at the end of the day, a president is really a public servant at the end of the day.
And if the people send this message clearly, loudly, many times, various cities -- so, I just hope that President Mubarak realizes that he is actually putting the country's interests in great risk and that these unrests are upsetting the economy, they are upsetting security, and they are causing a lot of havoc and chaos.
So, we hope that he would get the message sooner rather than later.
MARGARET WARNER: But he said yesterday in an interview with Christiane Amanpour of ABC that actually he was tired of being president, he would like to leave, but that he was afraid that the country would descend into chaos if he left abruptly.
Does he have a point?
WAEL NAWARA: He always has this -- being proud of being stubborn, not listening to the people, which I think is not really a great virtue for a president, not to be able to listen to his own people.
So, now he has appointed Vice President Suleiman. I think, if he now makes the gesture that he delegates his power to Vice President Suleiman, I don't see why this could be a chaotic situation.
MARGARET WARNER: Are you saying, though, you could imagine a transition period in which perhaps Mubarak remained technically as president, but he delegated powers to his new vice president, Suleiman, and they started this process of constitutional reform?
WAEL NAWARA: I think it's very likely that protesters and other opposition groups will find possibly this acceptable. But again, what I want to say is that President Mubarak is always a few days behind. If he said that the Tuesday speech...
MARGARET WARNER: The one where he said he wasn't going to run in September.
WAEL NAWARA: Exactly. If he made that speech eight days before, there would be no protests.
So, I really hope that he realizes that the more that he clings to power, the more people are becoming more disappointed and more also untrusting. So the way to do it really is to go now and try to get as close as possible to the people's demands now, and not really to stall for time, because, for -- quite honestly, I mean, for 30 years, he has been making promises for reform and so on and so forth.
MARGARET WARNER: We read that there are -- quote -- "opposition groups" meeting with the new vice president, Suleiman, and I think maybe the new prime minister.
Which groups are doing this meeting? Whom do they represent?
WAEL NAWARA: Well, he is really meeting with the parties which are sanctioned by the party's committee, which is presided upon by the NDP secretary-general.
MARGARET WARNER: That is the ruling party.
WAEL NAWARA: Yes, that's the ruling party.
So, really, what he is meeting with, he is meeting with opposition parties which are loyal to the regime. So, it's like being not a dialogue. This is kind of a monologue, because he is kind of speaking to himself. He really now needs to recognize that protest -- the protest movement, which is represented by many groups...
MARGARET WARNER: And that's not happening now?
WAEL NAWARA: We haven't seen that happening yet. We have seen a continuous approach of what we had seen before, that the regime wants to choose who governs, but who the opposition is also.
MARGARET WARNER: Now, what is your concern that the Muslim Brotherhood is going to somehow take over -- I mean, they are better organized -- that they are going to become the face of the opposition?
WAEL NAWARA: We -- we have to realize that the regime always designed the situation like that, to have this sort of polarization. It is either us or them, us being the ruling party, the NDP, and them being the Muslim Brotherhood.
And in the middle, the regime did its best to crush all sort of other opposition. If we have elections today, I agree with you that we might be -- the Muslim Brothers might be able to -- and especially if it is the Parliament, they might get too many seats.
Too many seats -- when I say too many, I mean that not representative of the people. So, that's why we need a transition period to allow that process to prosper.
MARGARET WARNER: So, what's the endgame you foresee now? Do you think the young people, who have been the foundation of people in the square, that they are going to stay there until Mubarak leaves?
WAEL NAWARA: Well, actually, I really think that we need to think also of, you know, new ways of how to sustain this. Maybe we go only once a week, or maybe twice a week, to the square.
So, we need to start thinking also of ways to sustain this with minimum damage, collateral damage, to our people who Mubarak is holding hostage. He's holding our people, our folks, our families hostage with no money, running people out of cash, running people out of groceries.
And we have to be smart also and start realizing, we don't want to lose the popular support. We want to continue our movement, but also take into consideration the interests of little people who -- who depend -- the taxi driver who has to pay the installments of his taxi, so that he needs to work to be able to pay.
We need to think of ways, creative ways, to sustain the movement while at the same time also allow our folks to -- to -- you know, to breathe some air.
MARGARET WARNER: Wael Nawara, thank you so much.
WAEL NAWARA: You're welcome.
Comment / Practical Solutions to Sustain High Turnout:
For example, taking shifts to sustain between 10,000 to 20,000 protesters in the square during weekdays - and a Large Turnout (200,000 - 300,000 or MORE) once or twice a week so that some people can go back to work and we can sustain the movement for as long as it takes to get the demands ...
El Ghad Party Press Release
بيان حزب الغد
5-2-2011
ينظر حزب الغد بارتياح لاستقالة مبارك من رئاسة الحزب الوطني، ويأمل أن تكون هذه الخطوة بادرة للتنفيذ الكامل للمطالب الحقيقية المشروعة للشعب المصري وثورته واولها خروج الرئيس مبارك من المشهد السياسي بتفويض نائبه في كل اختصاصاته.
ويدين حزب الغد العدوان الآثم على كنيسة مار جرجس برفح، ويشير بأصابع الاتهام، لنفس القوى التي أطلقت ميلشيات الترويع والبلطجة وفتحت السجون وروعت الامنين والمتظاهرين، وبثت حملة من الشائعات لإرهاب الشعب من خلال أجهزة إعلام الدولة.
وينبه حزب الغد جماهير الشعب المصري، لألاعيب النظام الذي لم يستجب للآن لأي مطلب من مطالب ثورة الشعب، ومحاولاته لإيهام الشعب والعالم بوجود حالة من الحوار حول مطالب الشعب، من خلال اجتماعات مع ممثلي جماعات موالين له نفسه واحزاب كارتونيه، وبما يعني أن النظام مستمر في التحاور مع نفسه، كما يدين حزب الغد، المحاولات الآثمة للنظام وبقايا فلوله في ترويع وتجويع المواطنين، والتضييق على سريان خطوط النقل والمواصلات والإمدادات الغذائية والطبية والاحتياجات الحياتية، وتوقيف الأعمال والبنوك وعدم صرف رواتب العاملين في الحكومة واصحاب المعاشات، وإطلاق البلطجية والمسجلين خطر وبث الشائعات لتخويف المواطنين وتشويه إنجاز الثورة الشعبية، من خلال أخذ الشعب المصري كرهينة مقابل أن يظل على سدة الحكم، ضاربا عرض الحائط بالمصالح العليا للوطن، كما يرفض حزب الغد أي تدخل أجنبي لدعم نظام فقد شرعيته بالكامل.
ويؤكد حزب الغد انه ملتزم بالموقف المعلن للجماعة الوطنية والجمعية الوطنية للتغيير والبرلمان الشعبي اللذان شكلا لجنة لمتابعة تحقيق مطالب الشعب مكونة من قطاع واسع يمثل مطالب قوي التغيير ويضم ممثلي العديد من الحركات الشبابية المتعصمة في ميدان التحرير.
وإذ يؤيد حزب الغد قيام حوار جاد لتحقيق مطالب الشعب فور قيام الرئيس مبارك بالتنحي عن منصبه أو قيامه بتفويض سلطاته لنائبه. ولكي يكتسب الحوار صفة المصداقية والجدية ويكون مقبولا للمعتصمين، لابد اولاً من اظهار حسن النوايا من قبل القائمين علي شئون الحكم الان وذلك بتوفير المناخ المناسب عن طريق:
∙ إقالة انس الفقي ووضع لجنة مستقلة محايدة للإشرف علي الإعلام المرئي والمسموع والمطبوع، لوقف حملات ترويع المواطنين والحرب النفسية التي يشنها النظام على الشعب لتخويفه وتضليله.
∙ القبض علي البلطجية وعلي من يحركهم وتقديمهم للمحاكمة.
∙ قيام الشرطة بدورها في حراسة الشوارع.
∙ الإفراج عن كل الصحفيين المصريين والأجانب والنشطاء السياسيين وممثلي المجتمع المدني والسماح لهم بالعمل في ظروف اَمنه.
∙ إقرار مشروعية ثورة 25 يناير ومطالبها التي اجتمع عليها الشعب والعمل علي تحقيقها طبقاً لجدول زمني محدود ومعلن يتم الالتزام به وفقاً لضمانات من قبل السلطة.
∙ الإعلان الفوري عن حل جهاز مباحث أمن الدولة والتعهد بعدم قيام الشرطة وأى مؤسسات مسلحة بالتدخل في التفاعلات السياسية.
∙ الإعلان الفوري بشفافية كاملة عن محاكمات عاجلة لاذناب النظام السابق ممن ارتكبوا جرائم في حق الإانسانية والشعب.
∙ الإعلان الفوري عن حل المليشيات المسلحة التابعة لاعضاء الحزب الحاكم ورجال الاعمال الفاسدين وتقديمهم للمحاكمة.
∙ إعلان الرئيس بتخليه عن رئاسة الحزب الوطني الديمقراطي.
هذا ويتمسك الغد بالمطالب الرئيسية لثورة الشعب المصري والمتمثلة في:
∙ تنحي الرئيس مبارك عن الحكم
∙ تفكيك شبكة الفساد والاستبداد وحل مجالس الشعب والشورى والمجالس المحلية.
∙ تشكيل حكومة وحدة وطنية لفترة انتقالية لتفعيل التحول الديمقراطي
∙ اختيار هيئة تأسيسية لوضع دستور جديد للبلاد.
∙ إجراء انتخابات حرة ونزيهة تحت إشراف كامل للقضاء.
∙ الإفراج عن كافة المعتقلين السياسيين.
∙ المحاكمة الفورية للمتسببين في قتل المئات من شهداء الثورة وإصابة الآلاف من أبناء الشعب المصري.
ان محاولة التلاعب وكسب الوقت والالتفاف حول المطالب الشعبية المشروعة والمعلنة لثورة 25 يناير- انما يعد عملا عدائيا ضد الشعب المصري لمنعه من حقه الدستوري والإنساني في تقرير مصيره واختيار من يحكمه ومن يمثله، ويؤكد الغد إن مثل تلك المحاولات الاَثمة والمجرمة محلياً ودولياً ستؤدي إلي زيادة اشتعال الموقف والزج بمصر وشعبها في نفق مظلم من العنف والعنف المضاد والفوضي بما يضرب المصالح العليا للوطن في مقتل ويعد بمثابة خيانة الوطن والشعب.
Sent using BlackBerry® from mobinil
5-2-2011
ينظر حزب الغد بارتياح لاستقالة مبارك من رئاسة الحزب الوطني، ويأمل أن تكون هذه الخطوة بادرة للتنفيذ الكامل للمطالب الحقيقية المشروعة للشعب المصري وثورته واولها خروج الرئيس مبارك من المشهد السياسي بتفويض نائبه في كل اختصاصاته.
ويدين حزب الغد العدوان الآثم على كنيسة مار جرجس برفح، ويشير بأصابع الاتهام، لنفس القوى التي أطلقت ميلشيات الترويع والبلطجة وفتحت السجون وروعت الامنين والمتظاهرين، وبثت حملة من الشائعات لإرهاب الشعب من خلال أجهزة إعلام الدولة.
وينبه حزب الغد جماهير الشعب المصري، لألاعيب النظام الذي لم يستجب للآن لأي مطلب من مطالب ثورة الشعب، ومحاولاته لإيهام الشعب والعالم بوجود حالة من الحوار حول مطالب الشعب، من خلال اجتماعات مع ممثلي جماعات موالين له نفسه واحزاب كارتونيه، وبما يعني أن النظام مستمر في التحاور مع نفسه، كما يدين حزب الغد، المحاولات الآثمة للنظام وبقايا فلوله في ترويع وتجويع المواطنين، والتضييق على سريان خطوط النقل والمواصلات والإمدادات الغذائية والطبية والاحتياجات الحياتية، وتوقيف الأعمال والبنوك وعدم صرف رواتب العاملين في الحكومة واصحاب المعاشات، وإطلاق البلطجية والمسجلين خطر وبث الشائعات لتخويف المواطنين وتشويه إنجاز الثورة الشعبية، من خلال أخذ الشعب المصري كرهينة مقابل أن يظل على سدة الحكم، ضاربا عرض الحائط بالمصالح العليا للوطن، كما يرفض حزب الغد أي تدخل أجنبي لدعم نظام فقد شرعيته بالكامل.
ويؤكد حزب الغد انه ملتزم بالموقف المعلن للجماعة الوطنية والجمعية الوطنية للتغيير والبرلمان الشعبي اللذان شكلا لجنة لمتابعة تحقيق مطالب الشعب مكونة من قطاع واسع يمثل مطالب قوي التغيير ويضم ممثلي العديد من الحركات الشبابية المتعصمة في ميدان التحرير.
وإذ يؤيد حزب الغد قيام حوار جاد لتحقيق مطالب الشعب فور قيام الرئيس مبارك بالتنحي عن منصبه أو قيامه بتفويض سلطاته لنائبه. ولكي يكتسب الحوار صفة المصداقية والجدية ويكون مقبولا للمعتصمين، لابد اولاً من اظهار حسن النوايا من قبل القائمين علي شئون الحكم الان وذلك بتوفير المناخ المناسب عن طريق:
∙ إقالة انس الفقي ووضع لجنة مستقلة محايدة للإشرف علي الإعلام المرئي والمسموع والمطبوع، لوقف حملات ترويع المواطنين والحرب النفسية التي يشنها النظام على الشعب لتخويفه وتضليله.
∙ القبض علي البلطجية وعلي من يحركهم وتقديمهم للمحاكمة.
∙ قيام الشرطة بدورها في حراسة الشوارع.
∙ الإفراج عن كل الصحفيين المصريين والأجانب والنشطاء السياسيين وممثلي المجتمع المدني والسماح لهم بالعمل في ظروف اَمنه.
∙ إقرار مشروعية ثورة 25 يناير ومطالبها التي اجتمع عليها الشعب والعمل علي تحقيقها طبقاً لجدول زمني محدود ومعلن يتم الالتزام به وفقاً لضمانات من قبل السلطة.
∙ الإعلان الفوري عن حل جهاز مباحث أمن الدولة والتعهد بعدم قيام الشرطة وأى مؤسسات مسلحة بالتدخل في التفاعلات السياسية.
∙ الإعلان الفوري بشفافية كاملة عن محاكمات عاجلة لاذناب النظام السابق ممن ارتكبوا جرائم في حق الإانسانية والشعب.
∙ الإعلان الفوري عن حل المليشيات المسلحة التابعة لاعضاء الحزب الحاكم ورجال الاعمال الفاسدين وتقديمهم للمحاكمة.
∙ إعلان الرئيس بتخليه عن رئاسة الحزب الوطني الديمقراطي.
هذا ويتمسك الغد بالمطالب الرئيسية لثورة الشعب المصري والمتمثلة في:
∙ تنحي الرئيس مبارك عن الحكم
∙ تفكيك شبكة الفساد والاستبداد وحل مجالس الشعب والشورى والمجالس المحلية.
∙ تشكيل حكومة وحدة وطنية لفترة انتقالية لتفعيل التحول الديمقراطي
∙ اختيار هيئة تأسيسية لوضع دستور جديد للبلاد.
∙ إجراء انتخابات حرة ونزيهة تحت إشراف كامل للقضاء.
∙ الإفراج عن كافة المعتقلين السياسيين.
∙ المحاكمة الفورية للمتسببين في قتل المئات من شهداء الثورة وإصابة الآلاف من أبناء الشعب المصري.
ان محاولة التلاعب وكسب الوقت والالتفاف حول المطالب الشعبية المشروعة والمعلنة لثورة 25 يناير- انما يعد عملا عدائيا ضد الشعب المصري لمنعه من حقه الدستوري والإنساني في تقرير مصيره واختيار من يحكمه ومن يمثله، ويؤكد الغد إن مثل تلك المحاولات الاَثمة والمجرمة محلياً ودولياً ستؤدي إلي زيادة اشتعال الموقف والزج بمصر وشعبها في نفق مظلم من العنف والعنف المضاد والفوضي بما يضرب المصالح العليا للوطن في مقتل ويعد بمثابة خيانة الوطن والشعب.
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Throwing One Human Sacrifice after another short of the real demands
حتى الآن النظام يلقي بالاضحية دون ان يحقق أي من مطالب الشعب
#Jan25
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#Jan25
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Is there Confirmation for Mubarak's Resignation from NDP
هل هناك تأكيد لاستقالة مبارك من الحزب الوطني؟
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Mubarak Resigns from NDP - Retracted later
استقالة مبارك من الحزب
- واستقالة هيئة مكتب الحزب الوطني
- القبض على حسين سالم في دبي -
لابد من أقالة انس الفقي اليوم من الإعلام
مبارم يتراجع عن الاستقالة أو كانت منقولة بالخطأ من الوكالات
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