As the day begins in Cairo, the city braces for competing demonstrations with competing messages.
This Al Jazeera clip references how the Presidential Palace, scene of thousands of protestors in the past several weeks, has braced itself by erecting brick walls that are now fresh with their own graffiti markings similar to those that filled Tahrir during the January 25, 2011 Revolution.
Cairo city schools have closed (we're not sure about international schools--ours here in Maadi are still open). The military is bracing in squares and around public buildings.
Last night, protestors who have been staging a sit-in in Tahrir Square for the past several weeks were attacked--reports of pellet fire, molotov cocktails, and thrown rocks by small group of unknown assailants. Twitter feeds lit up with the news last night as panic filled the Square for several minutes.
Meanwhile, former presidential candidate Abu Ismail did not take his followers to the Presidential Palace as previously threatened, but instead staged a sit-in of their own at Media Production City to protest certain programs and hosts that they feel have been insulting to President Morsi or Islam.
The Salafi Nour Party will join the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist forces in demonstrations in Cairo today to support President Morsi and the Constitution referendum scheduled for Saturday.
There are reports of continued demonstrations by opposition groups today as well. As the referendum date looms, the opposition has conflicting reports as to their response; some desire to continue to protest and to not vote in the upcoming referendum, while others are planning to vote "no" not just as a rejection to the Constitution draft but also to the current government. As mentioned in the video above, many young people are simply advocating a removal of President Morsi, as they similarly sought the removal of Mubarak.
There are multiple complaints as to how the referendum is progressing; the date of foreign voting was delayed while international Egyptian diplomats refused to oversee the referendum, the traveling citizens list was not updated and so many Egyptians are expressing their disenfranchisement on this important document, the army is being brought in to oversee the security of the referendum, the courts role is still uncertain, and we've read some media members' reports that they will not be allowed to observe the voting or counting process.
And the Morsi government continues in making late night decisions and announcements while many sleep. On Sunday afternoon, many of the revolutionary "Tweeters" that we have been following were expressing dissatisfaction with the multiple tax increases that were to go in effect Monday morning as a part of an agreement with the IMF for loan funding. The government had made this deal, but had failed to announce everything properly and word was beginning to leak out--huge tax increases were to begin at a critical and unpopular time for the President and this was adding fuel to the fire of the discontent. So, after midnight, the decision was made to not follow through on the tax increases--this created it's own unique share of questions on the effectiveness and order of the Presidency.
While the Morsi-led government attempts to stay the course, the opposition group may lack that unity of commitment. If the referendum does go through, and the opposition is divided from protesting or voting no, they will surely lack the votes they need to defeat the proposed Constitution. Then, the Islamists will have a case for a "majority"* voted President and Constitution.
The "majority" is in quotes and with an asterisk because you have to keep the numbers in mind when you remember the election that led to President Morsi's defeat of Shafiq. This excellent post by Sarah Wali that we retweeted yesterday helps remind why President Morsi needed to work harder at building bridges and developing consensus--instead, his government has spent time this week building walls.
Thank you for your continued interest and prayers for Egypt...
This Al Jazeera clip references how the Presidential Palace, scene of thousands of protestors in the past several weeks, has braced itself by erecting brick walls that are now fresh with their own graffiti markings similar to those that filled Tahrir during the January 25, 2011 Revolution.
Cairo city schools have closed (we're not sure about international schools--ours here in Maadi are still open). The military is bracing in squares and around public buildings.
Last night, protestors who have been staging a sit-in in Tahrir Square for the past several weeks were attacked--reports of pellet fire, molotov cocktails, and thrown rocks by small group of unknown assailants. Twitter feeds lit up with the news last night as panic filled the Square for several minutes.
Meanwhile, former presidential candidate Abu Ismail did not take his followers to the Presidential Palace as previously threatened, but instead staged a sit-in of their own at Media Production City to protest certain programs and hosts that they feel have been insulting to President Morsi or Islam.
The Salafi Nour Party will join the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist forces in demonstrations in Cairo today to support President Morsi and the Constitution referendum scheduled for Saturday.
There are reports of continued demonstrations by opposition groups today as well. As the referendum date looms, the opposition has conflicting reports as to their response; some desire to continue to protest and to not vote in the upcoming referendum, while others are planning to vote "no" not just as a rejection to the Constitution draft but also to the current government. As mentioned in the video above, many young people are simply advocating a removal of President Morsi, as they similarly sought the removal of Mubarak.
There are multiple complaints as to how the referendum is progressing; the date of foreign voting was delayed while international Egyptian diplomats refused to oversee the referendum, the traveling citizens list was not updated and so many Egyptians are expressing their disenfranchisement on this important document, the army is being brought in to oversee the security of the referendum, the courts role is still uncertain, and we've read some media members' reports that they will not be allowed to observe the voting or counting process.
And the Morsi government continues in making late night decisions and announcements while many sleep. On Sunday afternoon, many of the revolutionary "Tweeters" that we have been following were expressing dissatisfaction with the multiple tax increases that were to go in effect Monday morning as a part of an agreement with the IMF for loan funding. The government had made this deal, but had failed to announce everything properly and word was beginning to leak out--huge tax increases were to begin at a critical and unpopular time for the President and this was adding fuel to the fire of the discontent. So, after midnight, the decision was made to not follow through on the tax increases--this created it's own unique share of questions on the effectiveness and order of the Presidency.
While the Morsi-led government attempts to stay the course, the opposition group may lack that unity of commitment. If the referendum does go through, and the opposition is divided from protesting or voting no, they will surely lack the votes they need to defeat the proposed Constitution. Then, the Islamists will have a case for a "majority"* voted President and Constitution.
The "majority" is in quotes and with an asterisk because you have to keep the numbers in mind when you remember the election that led to President Morsi's defeat of Shafiq. This excellent post by Sarah Wali that we retweeted yesterday helps remind why President Morsi needed to work harder at building bridges and developing consensus--instead, his government has spent time this week building walls.
Thank you for your continued interest and prayers for Egypt...
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