Egypt's military seeks to restore stability/and a new dawn for the Egyptian people

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's military rulers are expected on Tuesday to step up efforts to restore stability, hoping a promise of a swift transition to democracy will prevent a new flare-up in the protests which forced out Hosni Mubarak.
Facing a wave of strikes, the military rulers held talks on Monday with young activists who were at the forefront of the uprising which ousted president Mubarak on Friday.

Wael Ghonim, a Google executive who had been detained for his part in the uprising, said members of the military council had told him a plebiscite would be held on constitutional amendments in two months.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague also said Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik had let him know that he would reshuffle his cabinet in the coming week to bring in opposition figures.

But with anger still smoldering over rising prices and economic hardship, the military face a difficult balancing act in restoring stability while allaying deep suspicions about its readiness to relinquish power.

Using their new-found freedom of expression and protest, workers on Monday rallied in Cairo and other cities to complain about low pay and poor working conditions.

Protests, sit-ins and strikes have occurred at state-owned institutions across Egypt, including the stock exchange, textile and steel firms, media groups, the postal services and railways.

Pro-democracy leaders also say Egyptians will demonstrate again if their demands for radical change are not met. They plan a big "Victory March" on Friday to celebrate the revolution.

Tuesday will be a national holiday to mark the Prophet Mohammad's birthday.

http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCATRE70O3UW20110215

The interesting thing will be WHAT are they doing to restore stability, and is it cleaning house or is it governing with a heavy hand?

Sounds like it is both

RT @AJEnglish Ex-judge appointed by military to head #Egypt reform panel http://aje.me/fRLd35 "strong supporter of indep judiciary"

Good morning. Just a thought, and not a good one really...but what IF this was a purposeful military coup due to Mubarak's imminent death? It seems to me that things are a bit too surreal. The transfer of power was clouded with lies, false information and just the fact that we never did actually SEE the man state he was relinquishing his position makes me doubt...or think deeper....whichever . Seems to be an awful lot of nations that have much at stake here...

Myhaloisgone wrote:Good morning. Just a thought, and not a good one really...but what IF this was a purposeful military coup due to Mubarak's imminent death? It seems to me that things are a bit too surreal. The transfer of power was clouded with lies, false information and just the fact that we never did actually SEE the man state he was relinquishing his position makes me doubt...or think deeper....whichever . Seems to be an awful lot of nations that have much at stake here...

For me personally the jury is still out having seen strong evidence for both sides.

I posted an article yesterday linking Soros, that El Baradi bloke (sorry cant remember how to spell these names) and the google executive Wael Gohim (sp) before the protests started.

I came back and deleted it as it didnt feel right and strangely enough I havent seen anyone else talk about it so it wasnt common knowledge.

I thought it was strange yesterday, with Clinton making a speech about Iran.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-world/20110215/INTERNATIONAL-US-EGYPT-MUBARAK-HEALTH/

Mubaraks' health is detiorating and he is refusing treatment

Limpan wrote:I thought it was strange yesterday, with Clinton making a speech about Iran.

That's not strange, that's part of her job. She has to stir their pot at every opportunity.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-world/20110129/INTERNATIONAL-US-EGYPT/

CAIRO — Egypt's new military rulers said on Tuesday they hoped to hand power over to an elected civilian leadership within six months and that they had no desire to keep control following the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak.

The remarks carried on the state agency were the clearest indication since Mubarak was forced to resign on Friday that the high command was committed to a brief timeframe for meeting the demands of pro-democracy protesters for a new start.

There's so much conspiracy now - but people need to understand something.

The people of Egypt had been angry for years, what caused the determination to start this Revolution was events from last year, with the police brutality, the latest church bombing in Alexandria the last straw. They realized they were being played, abused, mistreated, the prices were rising. This was planned months ago. Just so happened that Tunisia started and succeeded, that def gave more people hope and courage.

So, re Mubarak, His health was deteriorating before the demo's...he was supposed to go to Germany Jan. 26th, but of course couldn't when the Demonstrations started. They knew their Regime was under threat, that's why they set off the bomb in Alexandria.

The people did not want to wait for Mubarak to die, because his son Gamal would have slipped in immediately. Also they wanted the whole corrupt system to be gone. The only way to achieve this was with the help of a military coup. You guys remember how they cheered when the first tanks rolled in? Chanting "the military and the people are one". This was planned by the people.

Now I don't deny there's some interference from outside forces, we all know Israel tried to help Mubarak, US changed sides and collaborated with egyptian military, but in the end. The people here did and got exactly what they wanted.

We see now clear evidence that the Military has no interest in staying in power, they have done everything, except ending the emergency law, but I think this will happen once they feel things are secure and stable, And that isn't the case yet. There could be loyalists out there who would try to sabotage now, and also some criminals may still be on the loose. We still have a curfew. However, there's also no Martial Law rule, they have stated that they will be in charge under the current law and respect the demands of people.

Today they have announced that a judge is working on the Amendments of the Constitution and will be finished in 10 days. So they are moving fast. This is key step to make it possible for democratic elections to take place. Mubarak had it written in such a way, that it was illegal for any opposition to run against him in elections. Also I think for the PM to invite opposition groups to be part of the cabinet is also a good move.

Still vigilant though, but I think they're on the right track. Egypt may just surprise the rest of the world once again...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx-277MRYuM

I thought this was quite appropriate to Egyptian celebration!

Babsi wrote:There's so much conspiracy now - but people need to understand something.

The people of Egypt had been angry for years, what caused the determination to start this Revolution was events from last year, with the police brutality, the latest church bombing in Alexandria the last straw. They realized they were being played, abused, mistreated, the prices were rising. This was planned months ago. Just so happened that Tunisia started and succeeded, that def gave more people hope and courage.

So, re Mubarak, His health was deteriorating before the demo's...he was supposed to go to Germany Jan. 26th, but of course couldn't when the Demonstrations started. They knew their Regime was under threat, that's why they set off the bomb in Alexandria.

The people did not want to wait for Mubarak to die, because his son Gamal would have slipped in immediately. Also they wanted the whole corrupt system to be gone. The only way to achieve this was with the help of a military coup. You guys remember how they cheered when the first tanks rolled in? Chanting "the military and the people are one". This was planned by the people.

Now I don't deny there's some interference from outside forces, we all know Israel tried to help Mubarak, US changed sides and collaborated with egyptian military, but in the end. The people here did and got exactly what they wanted.

We see now clear evidence that the Military has no interest in staying in power, they have done everything, except ending the emergency law, but I think this will happen once they feel things are secure and stable, And that isn't the case yet. There could be loyalists out there who would try to sabotage now, and also some criminals may still be on the loose. We still have a curfew. However, there's also no Martial Law rule, they have stated that they will be in charge under the current law and respect the demands of people.

Today they have announced that a judge is working on the Amendments of the Constitution and will be finished in 10 days. So they are moving fast. This is key step to make it possible for democratic elections to take place. Mubarak had it written in such a way, that it was illegal for any opposition to run against him in elections. Also I think for the PM to invite opposition groups to be part of the cabinet is also a good move.

Still vigilant though, but I think they're on the right track. Egypt may just surprise the rest of the world once again...

I really do appreciate your analysis Babsi. You tell it like only someone living there could and it is very much welcomed here!

Janey wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx-277MRYuM

I thought this was quite appropriate to Egyptian celebration!

It says this video has content from Sony music and is not available in my country. Too bad..bet it's a nice vid

Janey wrote:

Babsi wrote:There's so much conspiracy now - but people need to understand something.

The people of Egypt had been angry for years, what caused the determination to start this Revolution was events from last year, with the police brutality, the latest church bombing in Alexandria the last straw. They realized they were being played, abused, mistreated, the prices were rising. This was planned months ago. Just so happened that Tunisia started and succeeded, that def gave more people hope and courage.

So, re Mubarak, His health was deteriorating before the demo's...he was supposed to go to Germany Jan. 26th, but of course couldn't when the Demonstrations started. They knew their Regime was under threat, that's why they set off the bomb in Alexandria.

The people did not want to wait for Mubarak to die, because his son Gamal would have slipped in immediately. Also they wanted the whole corrupt system to be gone. The only way to achieve this was with the help of a military coup. You guys remember how they cheered when the first tanks rolled in? Chanting "the military and the people are one". This was planned by the people.

Now I don't deny there's some interference from outside forces, we all know Israel tried to help Mubarak, US changed sides and collaborated with egyptian military, but in the end. The people here did and got exactly what they wanted.

We see now clear evidence that the Military has no interest in staying in power, they have done everything, except ending the emergency law, but I think this will happen once they feel things are secure and stable, And that isn't the case yet. There could be loyalists out there who would try to sabotage now, and also some criminals may still be on the loose. We still have a curfew. However, there's also no Martial Law rule, they have stated that they will be in charge under the current law and respect the demands of people.

Today they have announced that a judge is working on the Amendments of the Constitution and will be finished in 10 days. So they are moving fast. This is key step to make it possible for democratic elections to take place. Mubarak had it written in such a way, that it was illegal for any opposition to run against him in elections. Also I think for the PM to invite opposition groups to be part of the cabinet is also a good move.

Still vigilant though, but I think they're on the right track. Egypt may just surprise the rest of the world once again...

I really do appreciate your analysis Babsi. You tell it like only someone living there could and it is very much welcomed here!

Thanks Janey - I know I ramble on and on...but there's now so much analysis and conspiracy about how the coup happened and so on. I was here and saw how it went down, and I feel it was the people's victory and the outcome was exactly as they wanted. The military taking over eliminated the Regime, Parliament, Constitution...anything else would have left the people with the same Regime and Constitution in place and probably nothing or not much would have changed. Clean slate, new start, that's the only way to have a true democratic state.