The Daily Star Editorial

While the last few weeks and months have seen sporadic outbursts of violence in Egypt, the last few days, centered on the events in Tahrir Square, have proven that the honeymoon is over.
The clashes in Tahrir and elsewhere in Egypt have reminded the world that the joyous celebrations from earlier in the year, when the presidency of Hosni Mubarak ended, was only part one in a longer drama.

Since no one person led the Egyptian revolution, there has been a considerable amount of cloudiness as the developments played out. For a very brief time Omar Suleiman appeared to be taking over; then it was the turn of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces – but not as a new regime, merely a transitional one. Elections would be held. When exactly? And under what conditions? The SCAF has been busy issuing its statements and overseeing the work of the post-Mubarak government, but in a climate empty of accountability. When the SCAF has acted, it has failed to reassure the public due to the vagueness of its language and deeds.

Mubarak’s ruling organization, the National Democratic Party, was going to be sidelined in the elections, it seemed. Then, a decision allowing its former members to run. But another law held that people guilty of corruption would not be allowed to be candidates. However, this vetting process wouldn’t take place until lengthy court cases, meaning after the upcoming parliamentary elections. The course of Egypt’s post-Mubarak era has been a trip from one vague step to another.

The constants, meanwhile, are there for all to see. The Egyptian economy is in free-fall and the government is forced to review Cairo’s relations with international economic institutions.

The vital, hard-currency-earning tourism sector is at a standstill, due to the general instability, while other sectors are suffering in different ways.

The country is mired in unemployment and poverty, and with a huge population still suffering from problems such as literacy, there is a potent formula for unrest. In such a climate, it is easy for extremists to take advantage of people.
Economic woes and endemic corruption triggered the uprising earlier this year, and the violent initial response by the authorities at the time only made things worse.

The SCAF and those who are running the country today should realize that they are committing the same mistakes, and are failing to generate confidence in the public. Mubarak’s regime was toppled and there was supposed to be an end to heavy-handed repression in the streets. This was shattered during a string of bloody incidents in which the authorities continued to crack down on people, whether it was with Copts, or anti-Israeli demonstrators, or the latest protesters in Tahrir Square.

The transitional phase overseen by the SCAF was supposed to bring stability and hope that a new type of politics was at hand. Instead, the military rulers’ attitude toward a new Constitution, its prerogatives in the coming era, and the way elections will be handled, has only increased people’s frustration.
The street has spoken, and it’s time for the rulers to listen.