CAIRO: Egyptians returned to the polls on Wednesday in a staggered parliamentary election after five days of violence in Cairo that has cast a pall over the transition to democracy and drawn a US rebuke of Egypt’s security forces.
Tahrir Square and surrounding streets were quiet through the night for the first time in a week. A night earlier, police and soldiers had used tear gas and batons to chase protesters demanding an end to army rule out of the square.
The latest confrontations, in which 13 people have been killed, made for a turbulent backdrop to Egypt’s first election since Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February. Even before the vote got under way in November, a flare-up in Tahrir killed 42.
Nine provinces, mostly outside the capital, were holding run-off votes on Wednesday and on Thursday in the election that is being held over six weeks and ends on Jan. 11.
The ruling army council, which took over from Mubarak, has said it will not let the transition be derailed and has pledged to hand power to an elected president by July. But protesters in the square want the army to return to barracks far sooner.
“God willing, we will complete the revolution by Jan. 25 by bringing down the army council,” said 25-year-old protester Mahmoud, who declined to give his full name. The uprising against Mubarak began on Jan. 25 and lasted 18 days.
Near where he spoke, the authorities have erected walls of concrete blocks, barring access from the square on roads leading to the parliament, the cabinet and Interior Ministry where violence has been the most fierce.
A few hundred hardy protesters were still in and around the square on Wednesday, surrounded by streets strewn with rocks exchanged between them and security forces. Some protesters held up bullets and cartridge cases they say were used against them.
Traffic passed through other parts of the big square.
The clashes have driven a wedge between those determined to stay on the streets and other Egyptians frustrated by the turmoil, which has damaged the economy, and now desperate for a return of order. Many still see the army as the only institution capable of achieving this.
“All demonstrations should stop to end this violence until we finish elections and elect a president then all the demonstrators can voice their concerns through members of parliament,” said Erian Saleeb, 64, who works in the tourist industry, which has been hammered as visitors have stayed away.
But many have been shocked by images of police and soldiers hitting protesters with batons even after they fell to the ground and, in one case, dragging a woman lying on the ground by her shirt that exposed her underwear, and then kicking her.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week referred to that incident of the beaten woman as “particularly shocking” and cited other cases of women protesters sexually assaulted. (Reuters)