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“The Military Council is preserving the system which did not fall with
Mubarakâ€
Story Transcript
CROWD SINGING (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): We be at war or peace. We will sacrifice ourselves for you, my country. My homeland, my homeland, my homeland.
JIHAN HAFIZ, CAIRO CORRESPONDENT, TRNN: Spirits remain high here in Tahrir Square as organizers and activists, liberals, moderates, and Islamists are calling for a million man march to take place here in Tahrir on Tuesday. They’re also calling for demonstrations to shut down major highways all over the country. This comes as Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and his cabinet gave in their resignation to the military council. The military council also called for an investigation into the violence that erupted in the past three days, saying they will prosecute whoever was involved in killing the protesters, as well as the protesters involved in attacking the military police. If I can take you around at this point, people here have settled down into Tahrir Square. You see vendors, you have tents being set up, and you have people getting ready for this million man march, but also to maintain their posts here until their demands are met. As people are settling down here in Tahrir Square, the battle for this new revolution, as they call it, is still taking place in Mohammed Mahmoud Street, which is located right next to the Ministry of Interior. This battle has been waging on for three days now, and people expect to go into its fourth day, as the million man march is set to take place on Tuesday. The protesters see that their power in the streets does have the ability to change the situation here in Egypt. They also reject any call for an upcoming parliamentary election.
EGYPTIAN PROTESTER (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): What do I think? We don’t want the military. We don’t want the military. Why? I want a one-term government, and a military government isn’t that. That’s it. We’re here against a military government.
EGYPTIAN PROTESTER (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): The reality is that they are trying to prove to us that the problem is with the current parliament. We know that this is a ruse and the real problem lies with the military council. We’ve been certain from the beginning that the military council is a representative of the ousted Mubarak, and is in place to preserve the system, which they are not yet ready to abandon.
HAFIZ: The protesters say they will stay in the streets until their main demand is met, and that’s the removal of the military council. This is Jihan Hafiz for The Real News in Cairo, Egypt.
CROWD SINGING (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): Egypt! Most precious gem, a blaze on the brow of eternity! O my homeland, be forever free, safe from every enemy! My homeland, my homeland, my homeland, you have my love and my majesty. Egypt! O mother of all lands, thou are my hope and my ambition, and on all people your Nile has countless graces.
End of Transcript
DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.