Egypt after a year of civilian uprising
January 25th, 2012 - 6:26 pm ICT by IANSCairo, Jan 25 (IANS) As Jan 25 marked the first anniversary of Egypt’s civilian uprising that led to president Hosni Mubarak stepping down after nearly 30 years in power, many people questioned if it had actually proved successful.
Following 18 days of protests at Cairo’s Tahrir Square, Mubarak was replaced by a Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) which ordered severe clampdowns on street demonstrations and political dissent.
Under SCAF’s governance and martial law, there have been 11,879 cases of civilians being tried in military courts, six times more than during Mubarak’s rule, Al-Jazeera reported Wednesday.
On Oct 9, protesters called for the SCAF’s dissolution and this resulted in a military standoff and clashes leading to dozens of deaths through December 2011.
After a year since public protests commenced in the country, Egypt is now in the process of instituting a civilian rule.
The recent parliamentary elections witnessed a high voter turnout, few reports of corruption, and Islamist parties winning a majority of the vote.
The de facto head of state, Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Tuesday announced that the Mubarak-era’s state of emergency would be lifted Jan 25, 2012.
SCAF is describing Wednesday as “a day of national celebration” while many opposition groups have deemed it a day of protest.
These groups want the military to transfer power to civilian authorities.
- One year on, Egyptians back at Tahrir Square (Lead) - Jan 25, 2012
- Egyptians protest return of emergency laws - Sep 17, 2011
- Egypt to lift three decades old state of emergency - Jan 25, 2012
- Egypt protests continue despite authorities' concessions - Nov 23, 2011
- Egypt's military council appoints new PM (Lead) - Nov 25, 2011
- Protesters flood Cairo square, Mubarak warns of chaos (Roundup) - Feb 04, 2011
- Unrest swells in Egypt as cornered government bans Al-Jazeera (Roundup) - Jan 30, 2011
- Outrage as Mubarak refuses to go, US steps up pressure (Fourth Lead) - Feb 11, 2011
- Egypt's ruling military pardons nearly 2,000 detainees - Jan 22, 2012
- Egyptians vote for new leader - Jun 17, 2012
- Protesters stand their ground in Cairo square - Feb 05, 2011
- Muslim Brotherhood's Morsi wins Egyptian presidency (Lead) - Jun 25, 2012
- Post-Mubarak, Egypt army vows peaceful power transition (Second Lead) - Feb 13, 2011
- Egypt's military rulers dissolve parliament, suspend constitution (Roundup) - Feb 14, 2011
- Islamist parties sweep Egyptian election - Jan 22, 2012
Tags: al jazeera, civilian authorities, head of state, hosni mubarak, islamist, martial law, military courts, military standoff, national celebration, opposition groups, parliamentary elections, political dissent, president hosni mubarak, public protests, scaf, state of emergency, street demonstrations, supreme council, tahrir square, tantawi