EGYPTIAN DEMOCRACY campaigners yesterday rejected vice-president Omar Suleiman’s warning that if they do not enter into dialogue with the regime the result could be a coup.
Mr Suleiman, Egypt’s former intelligence chief, said: “I mean a coup of the regime against itself, or a military coup. Some force, whether army, police or intelligence or the [Muslim] Brotherhood or the youth [organisers of mass protests] could foster ‘creative chaos’ to end the regime and take power.”
Wael Ghomin, the Google executive whose Facebook page sparked the uprising, said he was ready to die for change, and retorted that it was too late to negotiate with the regime of president Hosni Mubarak. “There’s a lot of blood that has been spilled” in the cause of ousting Mr Mubarak. Mr Ghonim, who was detained by the security forces for 12 days, called on senior officials to step down “if you are true Egyptians, heroic Egyptians”.
His words seemed to echo the phrase “Freedom or Death!” on the lips of many of the demonstrators in Tahrir Square who raised the standard of revolt 16 days ago.
Protest organiser Khaled Abdel-Hamid also replied to Mr Suleiman. “We . . . will protest and will not negotiate until [president Hosni] Mubarak steps down. Whoever wants to threaten us, then let them do so.”
He challenged Mr Suleiman by calling on “millions” to join tomorrow’s mass demonstrations which Mr Abdel-Hamid said would be held at multiple locations in Cairo and not confined to Tahrir Square. He said trades unions were expected to go on strike.
Last Friday’s protest in Tahrir was attended by at least 250,000. This number was more than matched by a rally there on Tuesday. Tens of thousands took to the streets in Alexandria, Suez and other cities.
Mr Suleiman’s uncompromising statement deepened suspicions protesters have of the intentions of the US-backed regime.
Democracy activists argue that Washington has joined with Mr Mubarak’s entourage to ensure it will manage the transition from his 30-year, one-man rule so that it will be replaced by another undemocratic system of governance.
Washington, his staunchest supporter, has criticised Mr Suleiman’s repeated remark that in Egypt “the culture of democracy is still far away”.
So far the government, reshuffled after the protests began, has promised to recast the constitution, investigate official corruption and vote-rigging in last November’s parliamentary election, and refrain from prosecuting protesters. However, protesters argue that the regime has made promises only and taken no concrete steps to meet their demands.
The sole solid achievement of the protests has been the appointment of a commission of lawyers and judges to prepare constitutional amendments.
The regime’s strategy has been to wait out the protesters and try to restore normal life in the expectation that they will get tired of demonstrating and go home.
Government offices and banks reopened early this week, and shops and offices resumed work.
Cairo’s traffic jams returned and are now worse than ever since Tahrir Square is a no-go zone.