In January 31st, thousands of demonstrators demanding an end to military rule were blocked by members of the Muslim Brotherhood from reaching parliament.
The march named “Determination Tuesday” was called by 56 different organizations to demand immediate transfer of power from the military to the parliament and punishment for the old regime leaders.
The protesters left from different points of Cairo converging into the parliament building. Students gathered in front of the Cairo and Ain Shams universities’ campuses; a women’s march left from Saad Zaghloul mausoleum; others left from Tahrir square, Maspero (state TV headquarters), Helwan (where a coptic church was burned down a year ago by the secret police) and many others.
By the time the demonstrators reached parliament the march consisted of several thousand chanting against military rule.
The police helped by a concrete wall blocked one side of the parliament building, while the Muslim Brotherhood blocked the other side. Demonstrators traded chants from “Down with the military rule” to “Down with the Brotherhood” and accused the Muslim Brotherhood leader of selling out the revolution in exchange for their strong performance in the elections for parliament. Around 43 people were injured.
It was the second time there were clashes between protesters and the Muslim Brotherhood, first being last Friday (January 27th) in Tahrir Sq.
There were marches in other cities across the country.
The April 6 Youth, Kefaya and the socialist organizations Revolutionary Socialists and the youth group Justice and Freedom (strongly influenced by Socialist Renewal group) were present in the marches.
The unity between the protesters, labor (the new Labor Federation and its hundred affiliated unions), the students, the women movement and the soldiers can bring up an alternative for both the military rule and the Muslim Brotherhood future administration. This alternative, a workers’ government, must meet workers’ and peoples’ demands for jobs, wages, housing, education and healthcare, together with breaking up with colonial powers (EU and the US) and challenging Israel. That is the only way to fulfill the revolution.
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