Egypt falls deeper into unrest

Vice president and prime minister make rare speeches.

CAIRO: Day 10 of protests in Egypt and life for most in the capital is still frozen. Although concessions have been made and dialogue begun, a return to ordinary life in the streets of Cairo has yet to be seen.  On Thursday, Egyptians received rare addresses from both the recently appointed Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik and Vice President Omar Suleiman.

Prime Minister Shafik offered his apology after the clashes that occurred Wednesday night and early Thursday in Midan Tahrir between pro- and anti-Mubarak protestors, which left at least eight people killed and 890 wounded, according to the ministry of health. He added that the government had nothing to do with the attacks. The violence was eventually stopped when the military separated the two groups with tanks.PM Shafik added that the government will look into the matter, stating that “everything that happened Wednesday will be investigated so everyone knows who was behind it.”

However, despite military involvement and political concessions, Midan Tahrir remains hectic, where on-going gunshots could be heard in early hours of Thursday. The anti-Mubarak group is also determined to push out their opponents, “we have been driving them away since yesterday; we definitely outnumber them,” stated one anti-Mubarak protester; while Molotov cocktails continue to pour down from the 6th of October Bridge by allegedly pro-Mubarak protesters.

Meanwhile, the vice president began speaking to opposition groups, including three representatives of the protesters, who are being dubbed the “January 25th youth.”  Other opposition groups such as the Wafd and Tagammu parties as well as the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood have stated that they will not be participating in the dialogue.

Although many protesters in Midan Tahrir are still hesitant, other Cairo residents, such as Alia  stated that she felt VP Suleiman “the problem is that we have the issue of the chicken and egg – you cannot change the constitution without a parliament, so the government really cannot dissolve parliament at this time if elections will be in September.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2011.