Having taken power in the wake of long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, the Egyptian military today fulfilled some key demands of the protesters, announcing that they will disband the parliament and suspend the constitution pending its revision.
The moves may be welcomed in and of themselves, but the new junta also announced that they intend to rule entirely by decree until elections are held, meaning Egyptians can look forward to a minimum of six months under harsh martial law.
Opposition leaders were quick to call for the formation of a panel to draft an interim constitution and eventually a permanent constitution to provide a legal basis for their rule, but for the time being it seems the military is entirely uninterested in anything related to a post-rule era.
Indeed, though they said the elections will likely be held in approximately six months, the military gave no indication of when the exact date would be set nor whether all candidates would be permitted in the vote.
This from Al Jazeera:
Military in charge
Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from Cairo, said the two announcements do not indicate that the prime minister and military council are talking against each other.
But it is "quite clear that the power now rests entirely" with the military council, he said.
"They've taken on the role of the presidency and the prime minister and the other ministers carry out their orders.
"The key point is the military is saying they are only in power for a temporary basis, for six months or they'll go earlier if elections are called before six months.
But our correspondent noted that "one thing that wasn't in that communique that protesters have asked for, was the repeal of emergency laws".
Click here for more of Al Jazeera's special coverage
Protest organisers had called for both the dissolution of parliament and the lifting of a 30-year-old state of emergency.
Some protesters have vowed to remain in Cairo's Tahrir Square – the epicentre of the uprising – until all of their demands are met
Scuffles broke out early on Sunday as soldiers tried to remove activists from the square.
Soldiers shoved pro-democracy protesters aside to force a path for traffic to start flowing through Tahrir Square for the first time in more than two weeks.
Our correspondent in Cairo said the confrontations between troops and protesters was something of a "flashpoint".
"I think it reflects a bigger problem, that the military believes that now Mubarak is out, it's time for stability," he said.
"But some of the protesters think not enough has been done yet. They don't want to clear that square until the army has handed over to a civilian government."
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011…