The tens of thousands of Egyptians whose chants for change are ringing through Cairo’s Tahrir Square got a stern warning Tuesday from ruling generals not to disrupt daily life in what some activists are calling a second revolution.
The crowds again packing the symbolic square that was the center of the 18-day uprising in January and February defied the military council and staged a sit-in there for a fifth straight day, shutting down the heart of downtown Cairo and blocking access to a major government building.
Activists who once viewed the army as allies now accuse the military council of stalling on demands to bring police and former members of the regime to justice for abuses during former President Hosni Mubarak’s nearly three decades in power and for the deaths of nearly 900 people during the protests early.
“We either get their rights back, or we die like them!” screamed the crowd, alluding to the crackdown victims.
An estimated 30,000 people filled the square Tuesday, and tents and banners have sprung up again, giving the round-the-clock protest camp an air of the semipermanence it had in the winter.
The military issued a thinly veiled threat to use force. “All options are open to solve this situation,” military council spokesman Mahmoud Hegazi told reporters.
But the protesters’ new display of street power in recent days appeared to be pushing the military and interim government to act faster on reforms.
Interim Prime Minister Essam Sharaf said he planned to change many of the country’s provincial governors by the end of the month, weeding out Mubarak loyalists.
A day earlier, he said he would reshuffle the cabinet within a week. Interior Minister Mansour el-Issawi, said he planned this week to retire dozens of police commanders thought to have been involved in killing protesters.
Also Tuesday, Egypt’s state news agency said the Supreme Judicial Council would allow live transmission of the trials of Mubarak-era officials accused of corruption, as well as police officers charged with killing protesters. The footage will be relayed to screens installed outside courthouses for the public to watch, it said. Protesters have complained of a lack of transparency in the trials.
In another nod to protester demands, the military council said preparations for the once-postponed elections would begin Sept. 30