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In March, a set of constitutional amendments that paved the way for elections was overwhelmingly approved in a referendum that drew record numbers of voters. But anger over what many demonstrators saw as the military's loyalty to the core of Mr. Mubarak's government and the slow pace of change led to new mass protests and violence in April.

Economically, Egypt is struggling, as a system whose inequities and lack of opportunities helped topple a government, has now ground to a virtual halt, further wounded by the revolution itself.

The military's 18-member ruling council said it would hand over legislative powers after the parliamentary election in September 2011, and that executive powers would be transferred after the presidential election, which will be held by November. Many of the younger leaders of the protest movement worry that the long established and well organized Muslim Brotherhood could dominate voting, although the Brotherhood insists it does not want to become the ruling party.

The prospect of Egypt’s first open election in the fall has prompted a wide-ranging debate over radically divergent economic proposals. They include deep cuts to the bloated government work force and vast public subsidies, a leftist re-expansion of the state’s role in the economy, and the Muslim Brotherhood’s plan to impose a 7.5 percent income surtax on all Muslims to fulfill their religious mandate to give to charity. But the campaign has also revealed internal divisions within the Brotherhood, as the unifying sense of opposition to a secular dictatorship fades and various factions — including two breakaway political parties and much of the group’s youth — move toward the political center.

Politically, the country remains fragile. In late June, a peaceful protest in Tahrir Square turned into a night of clashes between the police and protesters in which more than 1,000 people were injured. The turmoil, which seemed to take almost everyone by surprise, showed that almost any spark can ignite simmering tensions. Among the protestors, a unity of purpose has given way to a multiplicity of demands, mirroring the divides that beset Egypt’s political life.
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{Recent developments:}June 29 A night of fighting between demonstrators and security forces made clear that there were differences not only between the government and protesters, but between those who want faster change and those who are growing weary of the post-revolutionary tumult.
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July 12 In a summer of discontent, thousands of protesters have returned to Tahrir Square; everywhere in Egypt, it seems, expectations— about who should rule, how they should rule and who should decide the way they rule — have not been met.
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July 29 Tens of thousands of Egyptian Islamists poured into Tahrir Square and called for a state bound by strict religious law. They delivered a persuasive show of force in a turbulent country showing deep divisions and growing signs of polarization.
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Aug. 1 Central Tahrir Square was forcibly cleared of the remnants of the three-week-old sit-in protesting the slow pace of change since the revolution, with hundreds of Egyptian troops and security police officers shredding tents, arresting dozens of protesters and sending about 200 others fleeing into nearby streets as the Ramadan holiday was about to begin. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritori
es/egypt/index.html also:

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Witnesses discussed the role and influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and militant Islamic groups, as well as the increase in violent attacks targeting Coptic Christians and their churches.

The Commission also heard about reports of disappearances, forced conversions and forced marriages of Coptic Christian women and girls.

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It's not over 'till it's over, anywhere in that area. And how long before it's over is anyone's guess.


Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off