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Egypt, last Friday afternoon:

After 18 days of mass protests (at least 300 people were killed and thousands injured), finally it took just over 30 seconds for Egypt's "vice-president", Omar Suleiman (aka the "Sheikh al-Torture"), to announce that dictator-president Hosni Mubarak was standing down and handing power to the military.

   "In the name of Allah the most gracious the most merciful," Suleiman read. "My fellow citizens, in the difficult circumstances our country is experiencing, President Muhammad Hosni Mubarak has decided to give up the office of the president of the republic and instructed the supreme council of the armed forces to manage the affairs of the country. May God guide our steps."

Well, that's a great victory for the pro-democratic movement in Egypt!!!

But the party - and what a party - is over. Now it's hangover time - and what a hangover.

The young democratic movement in Egypt is far from to be victorious: For now, it has resulted in a paradox. The dictator-president has indeed stepped down, but the protesters who demanded democracy are now getting a state under control of the military, an institution that by its very nature is far from a civilian democracy...(*)

Today's top figure in Egypt is Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, the country's defence minister who is not a known reformer (resp. he's well-known for his ant-reformist attitude: In 2008 he told senior American officials he was opposed to economic or political reforms in his country, claiming it would weaken Mubarak's regime, according to a leaked diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks).

And his main goal is to "restore law and order", demanded by the Egytian ruling class and supported by the so-called "int'l community", i.e. the ruling class in the U.S., the E.U. and the rest of the "civilised" world.

 
In a sign that the army will only tolerate a limited challenge to its power, al-Jazeera reported a short while ago that the "Egypt's military leaders are preparing to ban strikes and any act against 'chaos and disorder'..."

Today's Asia Times(HK) writes: At this stage, no one knows whether Mubarakism will survive with a minimal facelift; whether Mubarakism will co-opt the next elections while the army stays in the shade; or whether a real social and political revolution will radically, eventually reorganize all the structure of wealth and power in Egypt.

Mahmoud Nassar, one of the organisers behind the Tahrir Square protests, said the demonstrations would go on. "The revolution is continuing. Its demands have not been met yet," he said. "The sit-in and protests are in constant activity until the demands are met. All are invited to join."

Here some pieces about the armed forces' role (in behalf of the Egyptian dictatorship/ruling class) during the days of uprising:
☞ Military tortured, “disappeared” thousands of demonstrators (LibCom, 2.12)
☞ Egyptian army tortures protestors (Yedioth Ahronoth, 2.10)
☞ Egypt's army 'involved in detentions and torture' (Guardian, 2.09)

Related articles:
☞ Army orders last protesters to leave... (Haaretz, 2.14)
☞ Under the (Egyptian) volcano (Asia Times, 2.14)