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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

2011 Egyptian Revolution

Egypt is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel  to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya  to the west.

  

Timeline - Egyptian Revolution


January 2011
Activists in Egypt call for an uprising in their own country, to protest against poverty, unemployment, government corruption and the rule of president Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power for 3 decades.
Tahrir Square in Central Cairo became the focal point of the protests and protestors gather at the Tahrir Square and thousands of protesters remain in Cairo's Tahrir Square.




Egyptians take to the streets in large numbers.Thousands march in downtown Cairo, heading towards the offices of the ruling National Democratic Party, as well as the foreign ministry and the state television. Similar protests are reported in other towns across the country.Protests break out in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, the Nile Delta cities of Mansura and Tanta and in the southern cities of Aswan and Assiut.
Hours after the countrywide protests begin, the interior ministry issues a statement blaming the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's technically banned but largest opposition party, for fomenting the unrest.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the UN nuclear watchdog turned democracy advocate, arrives in Egypt to join the protests and  became a major figure of the opposition, with all major opposition groups supporting his role as a negotiator for some form of transitional unity government.




Protest organisers heavily relied on social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter.

 

Protests continue across several cities. Hundreds have been arrested, but the protesters say they will not give up until their demand is met.
Facebook, Twitter and Blackberry Messenger services are disrupted.Internet and mobile phone text message users in Egypt report major disruption to services.
Mubarak announces that he has sacked the cabinet, but he himself refuses to step down. His whereabouts are unknown.Mubarak appoints a vice-president(Omar Suleiman, the country's former spy chief) for the first time during his three decades in power.
Egypt's new vice-president promises dialogue with opposition parties in order to push through constitutional reforms
Protesters continue to defy the military-imposed curfew. About 250,000 people gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square and hundreds march through Alexandria.
Mubarak names his new cabinet on state television.President Mubarak tells his New PM Ahmad Shafiq, to keep government subsidies and cut prices.

February 2011
Hosni Mubarak announces in a televised address that he will not run for re-election but refuses to step down from office.
Clashes break out between pro-Mubarak and anti-government protesters in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
Khalid Abdel Nasser, son of the former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, joins the protest in Tahrir Square.
Bursts of heavy gunfire early aimed at anti-government demonstrators in Tahrir [Liberation] Square, leave at least five people dead and several more wounded.
Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square for what they have termed the "Day of Departure".Chants urging Hosni Mubarak to leave reverberate across the square.
The leadership of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party resigns, including Gamal Mubarak, the son of Hosni Mubarak. The new secretary-general of the party is Hossam Badrawi, seen as a member of the liberal wing of the party.
A symbolic funeral procession is held for journalist Ahmed Mahmoud, shot as he filmed the clashes between protesters and riot police from his Cairo office.
Labour unions join protesters in the street, with some of them calling for Mubarak to step down while others simply call for better pay. Masssive strikes start rolling throughout the country.
Human Rights Watch says that 302 people have been killed since the start of Egypt's pro-democracy uprising.
The newly appointed Culture Minister, Gaber Asfour, quits.  His family says it's due to health reasons but Egypt's main daily newspaper al-Ahram says Asfour, who is also a writer, was criticised by his literary colleagues for taking the post.
The criminal court in Egypt has endorsed the decision of banning three former ministers from leaving the country and the government has also frozen their assets.
Mubarak gives a televised speech which he says is "from the heart". He repeats his promise to not run in the next presidential elections and to "continue to shoulder" his responsibilties in the "peaceful transition" that he says will take place in September 2011.Protesters in Tahrir Square react with fury when Mubarak says he's remaining in power until September. Protesters wave their shoes in the air, and demand the army join them in revolt.


Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak would be stepping down as president and turning power over to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces on Feb 11,2011.

Protesters descended on the state television building in Cairo and the presidential palace in Heliopolis

                                                                                


People celebrate in Tahrir Square until early morning. Pro-democracy protesters start to clean the square.













The country's new military rulers promise to hand power to an elected, civilian government and pledged that Egypt will remain committed to all International Treaties.
State television says travel bans are being imposed on several of the country's former ministers, including the former PM Ahmed Nazif, who was sacked by Mubarak before he stepped down.
Soldiers try to remove the remaining protesters in Tahrir Square and their tents are dismantled. Traffic flows through the square for the first time since the protests began - Feb 13,2011




                                                                                             
                                                                                       




The military junta, headed by effective head of state Mohamed Hussein Tantaw iannounced that the constitution would be suspended, both houses of parliament dissolved, and that the military would rule for six months until elections could be held.The prior cabinet, including Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik  would continue to serve as a caretaker government until a new one is formed - February 13,2011


March 2011
Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik resigned  and was replaced by Essam Sharaf , the former transport minister - March 3,2011


 


Protesters raided 'State Security Intelligence(SSI) buildings(including the headquarters for Alexandria Governorate and the main national headquarters in Nasr City) to secure documents they believed to show various crimes committed by the SSI against the people of Egypt during Mubarak's rule. From the Nasr City headquarters, protesters acquired evidence of mass aueveillance and vote rigging
A constitutional referendum was held in Egypt  on 19 March 2011. More than 14 million (77%) were in favour, while around 4 million (23%) opposed the changes
The Egyptian Cabinet orders a law criminalising protests and strikes that hampers work at private or public establishments. Under the new law, anyone organising or calling for such protests will be sentenced to jail and/or a fine of LE500,000 (~100,000 USD) - March 23,2011

April 2011
Protesters head to Tahrir Square for the rally to "save the revolution" - April 1,2011
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators again filled Tahrir Square, criticizing the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces for not following through on revolutionary demands; demanding the resignation of remaining regime figures and the removal of Egypt’s public prosecutor due to the slow pace of investigations of corrupt former officials. - April 8,2011



May 2011
Tens of thousands of demonstrators filled Tahrir Square in the largest demonstrations since ousting Mubarak's Regimedemanding - No Military Trials for Civilians, the Egyptian Constitution to be made before the Parliament Elections and for all the old regime gang and those who killed protestors in January and February to be put on fair Trial.

 Hosni Mubarak was ordered to stand trial on charges of premeditated murder of peaceful protestors during the 2011 Egyptian revolution and, if convicted, could face the death penalty May 24,2011


July 2011
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Suez, Alexandria and Tahrir Square in Cairo, to voice frustration with the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces for what they called the slow pace of change five months after the revolution.- July 1,2011
Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in Suez, Alexandria and Tahrir Square in Cairo demanding
immediate reforms and swifter prosecution of former officials from the ousted government - July 8,2011
Thousands of gathered in several cities across Egypt  to press the country’s military rulers to deliver on its promise of reforms and speed up the trials of former officials - July15,2011


September 2011
Protesters storm the Israeli embassy dumped documents out of the windows as hundreds more demonstrated outside, prompting the ambassador and his family to leave the country - Sep 10,2011

                                                                         



Egypt’s ruling military council dispatched a commando team to extract Israeli security personnel within the embassy, while civil security forces worked to disperse crowds gathered around the embassy compound.  Israeli citizens and Embassy staff were later evacuated to Israel shortly thereafter.
Egypt’s ruling military council declared a state of emergency to restore order after the incident.


Omar Suleiman(who was Mubarak's longtime intelligence chief and was named vice president during the last weeks of his rule, is the first in a string of members of the ousted leader's senior leadership to appear in the court) testified on Tuesday at the ousted leader's trial under a complete media blackout, facing questions over whether his former boss ordered the use of lethal force against protesters - Sep 13 ,2011

An Egyptian court on Wednesday convicted former information minister Anas al-Fiqqi of corruption and sentenced him to seven years in prison.  Sep 28,2011


October 2011
The leader of Egypt's ruling generals Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi said on Wednesday the army has no interest in staying in power for a long time, but insisted the military council won't step down until it has 'fulfilled its commitments' Oct 5,2011

6 presidential candidates called on the generals to hold presidential elections by the end of April to speed up the transfer of power.
A timetable put forward by the military council would hold presidential elections near the end of 2012, meaning the generals would be in power for nearly two years before they step down, rather than the six months they had initially set as a deadline when they took over from Mubarak.
Riots erupted in Cairo as Christians protesting a recent attack on a church came under assault by thugs who rained stones down on them and fired pellets.Christians, who make up about 10 per cent of Egypt's 80 million people, blame the country's ruling military council for being too lenient on those behind a spate of anti-Christian attacks since Mubarak's ouster.
                                                                                              

                                                                             
 Abdel-Fattah(prominent Egyptian blogger) was accused of inciting violence and other offenses during clashes that killed 27 people Oct. 9,2011 but he was never formally charged. He was arrested Oct. 30,2011

November 2011

About 50,000  protesters flocked to Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday Nov 18,2011 to press Egypt's military rulers to transfer power to elected civilians after the cabinet launched a move to exempt the army from parliamentary oversight.

 

Hundreds of protesters fought back, hurling stones and setting an armoured police vehicle ablaze.
Egyptian riot police firing tear gas and rubber bullets stormed into Cairo's Tahrir Square today to dismantle a protest tent camp, setting off clashes that injured at least 676 people and raising tensions days before the first elections since Hosni Mubarak was ousted - Nov 19,2011



Egyptian riot police have clashed for a second day (Nov 20,2011) with rock-throwing protesters demanding that the ruling military quickly announce a date to hand over power to an elected government 

Egyptian soldiers and police set fire to tents in the middle of Cairo's Tahrir Square and fired tear gas and rubber bullets in a major assault to drive out thousands of protesters following two days of clashes 




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Egyptian police use force to clear Tahrir Square - Nov 20,2011



The violence raised fears of new unrest surrounding the parliamentary elections that are due to begin on Monday Nov 28,2011

New PM for Egypt to Replace Essam Sharaf
Egypt's Ruling Military Council asked former PMr Kamal Ganzouri(headed a cabinet from 1996 to 1999) to form a new government on Thursday Nov 24,2011 after protesters demanded the army sack the previous cabinet
Many Egyptians viewed him as an official who was not tainted by corruption, but his record serving under Mubarak could stir opposition from those demanding a clean break with the past.

 Thousands Rally in Egypt ''on last chance friday''
Thousands of Egyptians demanding an end to military rule converged on Cairo's Tahrir square on Friday Nov 25,2011
Egyptian state television on Friday Nov 25,2011 says the Nation's Ruling Military has asked a Mubarak-era prime minister to head the next government - Kamal el-Ganzouri, 78, served as prime minister in the 1990s under President Hosni Mubarak to replace Essam Sharaf, who resigned this week.
The appointment is likely to anger the protestors.



Egypt Parliamentary Elections



Egyptians go to the polls on Monday Nov 28,2011 to cast their votes for a new parliament after the end of the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak in Feb 2011.


The Parliament Elections are to be held in 3 stages - Nov28,2011;Dec14,2011 and Jan 3,2012 for the 498 seat  People's Assembly,Lower House of the parliament.
Elections to 270-strong Shura Council (upper house) is to take between Jan 29,2012-March11,2012 
About 50 million people are eligible to vote out of a population in excess of 85 million - with candidates from 50 registered political parties. Forty party lists and blocs composed of multiple parties are standing, including at least three parties established by former ruling National Democratic Party members whom the democracy movement has tried and failed to exclude.

Egyptians are voting under rules set by the military. They are choosing 498 members of the lower house from among 6,700 candidates; 332 seats will be selected from party lists according to proportional representation, while 166 seats will be allocated to independents under a first-past-the-post system



Big turnout in Egypt post-Mubarak Election

 Ever since an 18-day uprising toppled Mubarak's regime and brought the military to power, Egypt has gone through violence, splits in society, a worsening economy and a surge in street crime. Still, people were eager to cast a free vote, even though much is unclear about what will happen next, whatever the outcome.Even before polls opened at 8 a.m voters stood in lines stretching several hundred yards, suggesting a respectable turnout.They waited in long lines for hours to vote.

Egyptian voters turned out in big numbers on a mostly peaceful first day of voting today, driven by optimism to build a new era and the threat of fines if they stayed at home .Authorities report unexpectedly high turnout reaching an estimated 70 to 80 per cent over the two days of voting.Polling stations have been ordered to open for two more hours to cope with a higher than expected turnout in the country's first elections since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

 

 

 

 

 

 5 of the 10 Egyptian provinces have voted in the first round of the election. The country’s supreme election commission counts 17.5 million voters in those territories, with the total throughout Egypt number reaching more than 50 million.


 Egyptians gather outside a polling site to vote in the parliamentary elections in Cairo

 Voters line up outside a polling center beneath campaign posters on the first day of parliamentary elections in Cairo

   

Women take cover from the rain under umbrellas as they queue outside a polling station in Alexandria

 

A woman shows her identification card as she waits to vote at a polling station in the town of Ibshawai

 

An Egyptian man votes at a polling center in Shubra

Egyptians vote in a polling station in Assuit, 320 kilometers (200 miles) south of Cairo

 A man casts his vote at a polling station in Cairo

 An elderly Egyptian man shows his ink-stained thumb after casting his vote at a polling station in the Manial neighbourhood

 

The Freedom and Justice Party, set up by Egypt’s once- banned Muslim Brotherhood, is expected to emerge as one of the largest blocs in the parliament.

December 2011 

Alaa Abdel-Fattah Freed after two months detention

 

Egyptian prominent blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah hugs his recently born son, Khaled, after after he was released in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. An Egyptian court ordered the release of Alaa after detained nearly two months ago by the ruling military for his alleged role in deadly sectarian clashes in October 2011.



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