CAIRO, Egypt The ruling party leaders who resigned included the country's
most powerful political figures -- and its most unpopular among many
Egyptians. The move may have been aimed at convincing protesters in
the streets that the regime is sincere in implementing democratic
reforms they demand.
But State TV, announcing the resignations, still identified head
of state Mubarak as president of the ruling party in a sign he
would remain in authority. And Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said
Saturday that stability was returning to the country, appearing
confident that a deal on future reforms can be reached with the
multiple opposition movements to defuse protests without the
82-year-old Mubarak necessarily leaving power immediately.
Protesters have refused to end their mass rallies in downtown
Tahrir Square until Mubarak quits. Tens of thousands gathered
Saturday in Tahrir, waving flags and chanting a day after some
100,000 massed there in an intensified demonstration labeled "the
day of departure," in hopes it would be the day Mubarak leaves.
Their unprecedented 12-day movement has entered a delicate new
phase. Organizers fear that without the pressure of protesters on
the street, Mubarak's regime will enact only cosmetic reforms and
try to preserve its grip on power. So they are reluctant to lift
their demonstrations without the concrete gain of Mubarak's ouster
and a transition mechanism that guarantees a real move to democracy
afterward.
Mubarak has insisted he will remain in his post until the end of
his term in his autumn. In the meantime, the government has sought
to draw opposition parties and the youth groups involved in the
protests into immediate negotiations on constitutional reforms so
presidential elections can be held in September to replace Mubarak.
Protest organizers, wary of a trap, have refused until Mubarak
goes. A key question will be whether they can maintain enthusiasm
and continue to rally large numbers. Some in Tahrir greeted the new
concession of ruling party resignations with with scorn.
Wael Khalil, a 45-year-old activist, said it would "reinforce
their (protersers') resolve and increase their confidence because
it shows that they are winning, and the regime is retreating inch
by inch."
Among those on the six-member party Steering Committee that
stepped down was the National Democratic Party's secretary-general,
Safwat el-Sharif, and the president's son Gamal Mubarak, who has
long been seen as his father's intended heir as president. The
turmoil has crushed those ambitions, however, with Vice President
Omar Suleiman promising in the past week that Gamal will not run
for president in September.
A new Steering Committee was named, headed by Hossam Badrawy,
who also replaced Gamal as head of a separate policies committee.
The new body largely consists of young figures, one of the new
appointees, Mohammed Kamal, told The Associated Press. "It's a
good change. It reflects the mood of change that is sweeping the
country," he said.
The move suggested that the military figures now dominating the
regime -- including Vice President Omar Suleiman and Prime Minister
Shafiq -- judged that dumping party veterans was the price for
getting enough of the opposition to accept Mubarak's continuing in
power.
At a press conference aired on state TV, Shafiq suggested the
government hopes to convince enough factions to enter talks that
the others will be forced to join in. Asked whether the Muslim
Brotherhood, for example, will enter talks, Shafiq said, "Once
they find the others are negotiation, for sure they will or they
will be left alone ... The level of aspirations is going down day
by day."
He noted that the protesters had changed their slogan from "day
of departure" to a "week of steadfastness," saying that this was
"because they failed on Friday" in forcing out Mubarak. "All
this leads to stability," he said.
Government officials, meanwhile, sought to depict that normalcy
was returning to a capital that has been paralyzed for nearly two
weeks by the crisis. State TV announced that banks and courts,
closed for most of the turmoil, will reopen Sunday, the start of
Egypt's work week, though daily bank withdrawals will be limited to
$15,000 and the stock market will remain shut at least through
Monday.
The government and military have promised not to try to clear
protesters from Tahrir, and soldiers guarding the square continued
to let people enter to join the growing rally.
But there were signs of tension Saturday. At one point, army
tanks tried to brought out tanks to try to bulldoze away several
burned out vehicles that protesters used in barricades during
fighting this week with pro-regime attackers. The proteters say
they want the gutted chassis in place in case of a new attack.
Protesters clambered onto the vehicles and lay down in front of
them to prevent soldiers from removing them, and only after heated
arguments did the troops agree.
Also, there were reports for the first time of attempts by
troops guarding the square's entrances to prevent those entering
from bringing food for protesters, thousands of whom have camped
out for days and need a constant flow of supplies.
Mohammad Radwan, 31, said soldiers harassed him as he brought in
supplies of bread, cheese and lunch meat and tried to confiscate
some of the food until he shouted them down. "They want to
suffocate the people in Tahrir and this is the most obvious attack
on them without actually attacking," he said.
Protesters vowed to hold out in the square. Elwan Abdul Rahman,
a 26-year-old who arrived in Tahrir on Friday from southern Egypt
dismissed the prime minister's comments. "He's laughing at the
world, he's laughing at all of us," he said, pointing at the
crowds and saying, "Do you think they're gonna go away tomorrow?
... People are here with their blood and their soul."
Shafiq's comments pointed to what could be the regime's strategy
in the coming phase: isolate protests but let them go on in hopes
they burn out from exhaustion while trying to keep the government
Mubarak installed last week in place to direct the reform process.
Shafiq and Vice President Omar Suleiman -- both military men like
Mubarak and regime stalwarts put in their posts last week -- have
taken the lead in trying to arrange reform negotiations.
Egypt's top ally the United States has pressed Mubarak, who has
ruled for nearly three decades with an authoritarian hand, to
launch a democratic transition immediately and step aside quickly.
The administration has held behind-the-scenes talks with Egyptian
officials on a variety of ways to do that, including a proposal
that Mubarak step down now and hand power to Suleiman.
President Barack Obama stopped short of calling for Mubarak's
immediate resignation, but said Friday that the Egyptian leader
should think about his legacy and exit office in a way that ensures
peace and democracy. "My hope is -- is that he will end up making
the right decision."
Friday saw the tentative contacts between the government,
protest organizers and independent actors trying to convince the
leadership on a graceful way out for Mubarak.
A self-declared group of Egypt's elite -- called the "group of
wise men" -- has circulated ideas to try to break that deadlock.
Among them is a proposal that Mubarak "deputize" his Vice
President Suleiman with his powers and step down in everything but
name, perhaps keeping the presidency title for the time being at
least.
The "wise men," who are separate from the protesters on the
ground, have met twice in recent days with Suleiman and Shafiq,
said Amr el-Shobaki, a member of the group. Their proposals also
call for the dissolving of the parliament monopolized by the ruling
party and the end of emergency laws that give security forces
near-unlimited powers.
"The stumbling point remains that of the president stepping
down," el-Shobaki said.
The "wise men" are comprised of about a dozen prominent public
figures and jurists, including former Cabinet minister and lawyer
Ahmed Kamal Aboul-Magd, businessman Naguib Sawiris and political
scientist academics like el-Shobaki. "We don't represent the youth
on the ground. We keep in touch with them," said el-Shobaki.
Late Friday, a delegation from the protesters themselves meet
with Shafiq to discuss ways out of the impasse, said Abdel-Rahman
Youssef, a youth activist who participated in the meeting.
He underlined that the contacts were not negotiations. "It was
a message to see how to resolve the crisis. The message is that
they must recognize the legitimacy of the revolution and that
president must leave one way or the other, either real or political
departure," he told The Associated Press.
The protesters are looking into the proposal floated by the
"wise men," said Youssef, who is part of the youth movement
connected to Nobel Peace laureate and prominent reform advocate
Mohamed ElBaradei.
"It could be a way out of the crisis," Youssef said. "But the
problem is in the president...he is not getting it that he has
become a burden on everybody, psychologically, civicly and
militarily."
Israa Abdel-Fattah, a member of the April 6 group, another of
the youth movements driving the demonstrations, said there is
support for the wise men's proposal among protesters.
Youssef underlined that the 12-day-old protests will continue in
Tahrir Square until Mubarak goes in an acceptable way.
"There is no force that can get the youth out of the square.
Every means was used. Flexibility, violence, live ammunition, and
even thugs, and the protesters are still steadfast," he said,
referring to an assault by regime supporters on Wednesday that
sparked 48 hours of heavy street fighting until protesters
succeeded in driving off the attackers.
The protest organizers themselves are a mix of small movements
who managed to draw broadbased support among a public disenchanted
with Mubarak's rule. The majority are young secular leftists and
liberals, who launched the wave of protests though an Internet
campaign, but the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood also has built
a prominent role.
Suleiman and Shafiq say they want negotiations with all the
factions, promising their voices will be heard.
Protesters, however, distrust a process conducted by the current
government, given the regime's overwhelming domination of the
playing field, including a grip on security services and the media,
a vast patronage system, a constitution that effectively enshrines
its monopoly and a history of rigging elections.
ElBaradei has argued that the current leadership be replaced by
a presidential council of several figures -- including a military
representative -- to oversee the daunting process of loosening that
grip, which he says will take a year.
