Thousands at Tahrir Square against the military
But the Council promises a hard punch

CAIRO – Tens of thousands of people  Tahrir Square in Cairo to demonstrate against the constitutional reform launched last week by the Military Council. To the massive presence of the demonstrators, flocked to the square symbol of the Arab spring, the military reacted harshly: “We will face all the attempts to put the country at risk with the greatest firmness and strength”, they warned, while the tension in the country skyrocketing.

The Muslim Brotherhood and other political forces have called people to the streets after Friday prayers
for a new protest against the “coup d’état” of the, inspired by the military. Hundreds have slept in camp, while the country nervously awaits the official results of the presidential ballot.

In a statement released by the Egyptian military council read on state television, the military promises to use a hard fist against those who, they say, threaten to put the country at risk and defend what the protesters instead is a coup: the constitutional declaration, they argue, is “a necessity imposed by the conditions of the country’s management in this critical period”. And they take it out on the presidential candidates for prematurely announcing their victory, creating political divisions and confusion. The advance declaration of the results of the Egyptian presidential elections is “completely unjustified and is one of the reasons for the current division,” the statement states.

Essam El-Erian, number 2 of the Justice and Freedom party, an expression of the Muslim Brotherhood, declared that the sit-in will continue until the Parliament released from the elections held at the turn of the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012 will be resettled. The Brothers claim strongly the victory of their candidate Mohammed Morsi and they are engaged in talks with other lay movements on the ongoing political crisis. 

Tensions escalated after the Supreme Council of the armed forces, which has governed the country since the fall of Hosni Mubarak, took control of the legislative power, taking advantage of the decision by the Cairo Supreme Court to dissolve the parliament, in which the Muslim Brotherhood they had the majority.
(June 22, 2012)