Egypt’s military seeks calm
Timetable advances for new government
CAIRO – The head of Egypt’s military council announced an accelerated timetable for handing power to an elected government, an effort to calm a protest movement charging that the army had itself become an oppressor since it helped push Hosni Mubarak from power 10 months ago.
Dressed in pressed green fatigues and a cap, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi appeared stern and uncomfortable in a formal address to the nation Tuesday. In mood and message, Tantawi seemed to echo the perturbed old president, who neither understood nor possessed the moral authority to beat back the revolution that overthrew him in February.
Tantawi scolded protesters for insulting the military and spoke of sinister “unforeseen forces” trying to destroy the state.
“Running the country during the transitional period hasn’t been as easy,” said Tantawi. He added the military does not covet power: “The army is ready to go back to barracks immediately if the people wish that through a popular referendum, if need be.”
It remains to be seen whether the concessions will defuse what protesters are calling a “second revolution,” in which at least 30 people have died since Saturday. But many among the crowd of more than 100,000 protesters in Tahrir Square booed the speech and were unimpressed by Tantawi.
“The speech was very disappointing,” said Essam Abdel Latif, a lawyer. “It resembled the same old way of tackling problems as during Mubarak’s days. Tantawi will remove one Cabinet and bring in another that will be his puppet. We need to see more actions. We wanted to see him apologize for those who are being killed.”
Tantawi made two pledges: To appoint a new interim Cabinet and to relinquish power to a civilian government after a president is elected no later than July 1, 2012. The military council had planned to retain control until 2013, but the concessions were forced by deadly clashes between protesters and riot police, an economy in a tailspin and parliamentary elections scheduled for Monday.
The field marshal’s address followed an emergency meeting with political and Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, which is expected to win a major share of parliament.