AFTER the dictator Mubarak’s insistence, on Tuesday night, that he will remain president of Egypt until next September, the ‘managed change’ for Egypt, favoured by imperialist politicians such as Tony Blair and President Obama and supported by Israel, began to emerge.
The army command followed up the declaration of Mubarak by making its own declaration on Wednesday morning. This was that the people must leave Tahrir Square and return home.
This call was then reinforced by thousands of the police forces who had vanished from the scene earlier in the week.
These reappeared and made their way to the square in plain clothes, where fierce clashes took place as they sought to carry out Mubarak and the army command’s orders, by driving the demonstrators out of the square, attacking them with knives and clubs.
The police forces were allowed into the square by the officers in command of the tank led armed forces encircling it.
The troops did not lift a finger to defend the workers, youth, men, women and children – who were under attack by the thugs – but were bravely defending themselves, and in some cases driving the attackers out of the square.
On Tuesday over a million workers and youth had demonstrated across the country against Mubarak, the culmination of more than a week of demonstrations that had left 300 people dead according to UN estimates.
The marchers were happy and looking forward to Mubarak leaving the country, and bowing to the will of the majority.
Yesterday it was all change, and clashes were reported in Alexandria and Luxor as well as in the capital Cairo, with the imperialist leaders of the US, the UK and the EU hypocritically condemning the violence through which their favoured change is being managed.
Demonstrators were yesterday calling on the capital’s masses to flock to the square to prevent what is essentially a coup by pro-Mubarak forces.
They say that what is taking place proves that Mubarak is intent on staying in power by civil war methods.
They called on the masses of Cairo to march on the square saying that this intervention was needed since they felt that the army would open fire to kill wound and disperse them, if the police vigilantes were unable to do so.
They stressed that there was no way that the dictatorship, including the army would allow the demonstrators to remain in the square until Friday prayers, when millions would be on hand to march to their relief.
They urged the masses to march to assist them now, otherwise the matter would be resolved Tiananmen Square style. This was when special units of the Chinese army cleared that square, in 1989, of tens of thousands of protesting workers and youth, with tanks and armoured cars killing hundreds and wounding thousands of demonstrators.
The demonstrators in Tahrir Square also urged the soldiers to join them and the struggle to put an end to the dictatorship.
They called for a general strike in Cairo and in all of the main cities, and for a workers militia to be formed to protect demonstrators from the dictatorship.
The call is going up for united action by workers, the middle classes and farmers to form joint organisations to run the towns and cities and to overthrow the dictatorship, to go forward to establish a socialist Egypt.
The Egyptian revolution will overcome this test and march forward!
