Dispatches from Cairo #8: An update on protests in Tahrir Square

The eighth installment of my Dispatches from Cairo series is now posted on The Daily Organ.

Crowds are continuing to occupy Tahrir Square, despite the fact that it has begun to drizzle. The atmosphere is tense and today’s "Legitimacy of the Revolution" rally is expected to draw a sizable number of people. 

The sit-in has mostly ceased to be violent since a wall was erected on Thursday to prevent anyone entering Mohammed Mahmoud Street, the focal point of battles. 

The scene has looked very different since this barricade was erected. Previously, fierce back-and-forth fighting raged between protesters and riot police, both sides throwing tear-gas canisters, the police shooting rubber, and some say live, ammunition, and protesters retaliating by lobbing slabs of paving stone back at them. While the majority of those gathered in the area were peacefully assembled in Tahrir Square, all heads faced this one street, all eyes fixated on the battle.

Since the ceasefire, the crowd has shifted back to the centre of the square. Some individuals continue to hang around the end of Mohammed Mahmoud Street, dejectedly smoking cigarettes, unsure of their next move now that they have no one to direct their anger at. 

Others are huddled under blankets or in doorways, sheltering from the elements, while still more defiantly wave flags and chant, despite the weather. Baked sweet potatoes are being sold by vendors, along with seeds, nuts, and candy-floss; activists hand out leaflets detailing demands. 

Protesters are demanding that elections be delayed and that Field Marshall Tantawi and the whole of SCAF step down immediately, neither of which are likely to occur.

They claim that elections, due to start tomorrow, are being held too soon to allow new parties enough time to organise and campaign, giving an advantage to established groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood have been conspicuous by their absence during the past week.

The military have made some concessions to the protesters in recent days; they accepted the cabinet’s resignation, committed to hold presidential elections by July 2012, and agreed to release all those arrested since the renewed protests began. However, protesters are unsatisfied with the newly-appointed cabinet headed by Kamal Ganzouri, a former Prime Minister under Mubarak, due to his age and connection to the old regime. 

The military have also assented to hold a referendum on the issue of whether or not they will remain in power. This proposal has been greeted by scorn with activists, who claim that it does not go far enough. It is a shrewd move by SCAF, and one which gambles on the “silent majority” of Egyptians, fearful of a complete breakdown in law and order in the event of a power vacuum, voting for them to retain their position.

At the current time elections look set to go ahead, but the process in unlikely to go smoothly. Results are likely to be disputed, and some parties are sure to be accused of corrupt activities. Whatever the eventual outcome, it seems unlikely that the capital will know much peace in the coming months.