Mubarak and Tantawi

"LandepNews"

Mubarak and Tantawi

Protest in Egypt entered on Wednesday the fifth day, as the people erected in Tahrir Square an image presenting half face of Mubarak and half of the new leader Tantawi, a message very clear for the military ruling council that the people considers them as unacceptable as they considered Hosni Mubarak. By this image the people are accusing the military of having betrayed their trust and behaving in the same way as the former president.
The protest in Tahrir Square and in seven other cities in the country demands the ouster of field marshal Hussein Tantawi and the handing over of power to the civilian authorities.
On Tuesday night field marshal Tantawi appeared in front of the cameras and told the Egyptians that elections would be held in July next year, that is much earlier than they had previously been scheduled. He promised to appoint a new national unity government and to carry on the elections as scheduled for next Monday.
Tantawi reminded that the army did not want this job and made a surprising move by offering a referendum for people to vote whether they wanted the military to continue their action in power. He promised that if the people wanted otherwise, the troops would be withdrawn to the barracks.
His speech came after the civilian prime minister offered on Tuesday to resign, and after negotiations between the army and the political forces were held.
The people in the Tahrir Square did not seem too impressed with Tantawi’s speech, and chanted “Leave! Leave!” Some people considered that the referendum proposal was a way of convincing the people who have not taken to streets yet. Analysts consider that Tantawi bet on the fact that the millions of Egyptians at home would vote for his staying in power.
People accuse Tantawi of having the same mentality as Mubarak, whose minister he was, and that he failed to lead Egypt to change as he had promised. Analysts, including a leaked American cable, consider that Tantawi is change-resistant and that he is set to keep the status quo.
Egyptian army has won its respect in the country after the fight against colonialism, but the country’s population is too young now to be connected to that moment in time, therefore the presence of the leader in power seems somehow out of date.
Tantawi denied he had any presidential ambitions, but it is believed that the army wants to negotiate its “return to the barracks” in their own terms, that is making sure that the military personnel does not end up summoned in court as happened to Mubarak, and ensuring that their economic interests are being sought after.
The entire scandal broke out when a resolution draft went public providing that the military and its budget would be exempted from the civilian government ambit.
Tantawi’s testimony in Mubarak’s trial was fundamental, sending the entire procedure into chaos, as he spoke of things that made the attorneys of the 800 victims of the revolution demand another judge.
The military leader postponed his testimony for September, arguing that he did not want the army to bear the brunt of this trial.

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