April 6: SCAF is now 'wearing Mubarak’s mask'

Hatem Maher, Sunday 20 Nov 2011

Youth movement launches scathing attack on Egypt's ruling military council following Saturday’s deadly Tahrir Square clashes; denounces Sunday attack by army and demands Sharaf Cabinet resign

6 apr
6th of April movement logo (Photo: official website)

The April 6 youth movement said Egypt’s ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) was now “wearing the mask” of ousted president Hosni Mubarak following Saturday’s deadly clashes in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and other governorates that left two protesters dead and more than 900 injured.

The violent confrontations sparked a chorus of condemnation for the heavy-handed tactics used by police and ratcheted up pressure on the SCAF.

“All the masks are falling off, one after another. The mask of Mubarak, who is now ruling the country, has been unveiled,” the movement stated on its Facebook page. “After the Egyptian people taught him a lesson, Mubarak has maintained his arrogant attitude, expanded his tyranny and continued to brutally repress the people who were injured during the January revolution.”

In response to the clashes, thousands of demonstrators attempted to stage an open-ended sit-in in Tahrir Square.

The April 6 movement went on to say that its members would not leave the square until the entire SCAF-appointed Cabinet stepped down.

“The following are our unyielding demands: the dismissal Essam Sharaf’s failed Cabinet, especially Interior Minister Mansour El-Essawy; formation of a unity government tasked with saving the country, which should be granted full authority, without any kind of intervention from SCAF; that presidential polls be held no later than April of next year; and laws to guarantee the right of protesters to stage sit-ins.”

The Maspero Youth Coalition took a similar position, denouncing the use of what it called “unjustified violence” against peaceful protesters and calling for a swift transfer of executive power to an elected civilian authority.

“We support the demands of fellow political forces to form a new government, sack the Essam Sharaf government and hand over authority,” it said.

Minutes after the police attacked protesters in Tahrir square Sunday evening, the political bureau of the Movement issued a statement on its website vowing to remain inside Tahrir square with all revolutionaries until Sharaf's government falls and the creation of a national salvation cabinet.

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