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The
whole of Egypt is now in a precarious balance. That same precariousness
applies to the role of the armed forces, the sole remaining fulcrum of
the regime. On paper it is a formidable force, as solid as the
aforementioned pyramid. But armies are composed of human beings, and are
subject to the same pressures as any other social stratum or
institution.
An Emergency Motion in support of the Arab workers was passed at a meeting of the West Midlands TUC on Saturday, January 29th. It was agreed to forward it to the Regional TUC and to all affiliated Trades Union Councils.
We have now entered a critical period. The cuts are no longer on the
horizon; they are knocking at the door. Over the next few months, local
councils will be finalising annual budgets for the next financial year,
agreeing what services should be reduced or cut and increasing charges
for those which remain. For the labour and trade union movement the
time for talk has passed, action is now needed.
According to the Bundesbank, German
GDP grew by 3.6% in 2010. This comes after the steep 4.7% drop in 2009,
when the recession hit Germany hard. Unemployment has gone down from the
10.5% peak of 2005 to 7%. It now stands at just under three million.
Volkswagen is taking on 3,000 workers, BMW and Daimler 400 each.
Lufthansa has announced plans to take on an extra 4,000 staff this year.
The same picture can be seen in chemicals, electronics and other
industries. When the rest of Europe is facing lay-offs and sluggish
growth, what is different about Germany?
After a much criticized silence, Hosni Mubarak has finally made a
statement regarding the protests. The initial reaction to the speech was
one of anger. Mubarak’s speech was quite predictable, basically
praising the poor, promising reform and what not. Even though these
blatant lies that reek of condescension are enough reason to ignite the
streets of Egypt with fury, it was Mubarak’s last statement that angered
the people the most.
The popular uprising against the Hosni
Mubarak government continues. On Sunday morning the sun rose over
another tense day following a night of mass defiance and anti-government
protests that turned the curfew into a dead letter. This fact
strikingly exposes the real situation.
Day five of the revolution and the
movement continues to grow in size and intensity. Last night’s curfew
was ignored, and today there are more people on the streets than
yesterday. A new curfew was called for four o’clock Egyptian time, but
this is no more effective than the previous one. Even before the curfew
came into effect, larger numbers of protestors were gathering on the
streets.
Friday, 28 January 2011. The
flames of anger are spreading through all Egypt and nothing can stop
them. The fate of the Mubarak regime hangs in the balance. Today there
were violent clashes on the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities
as the struggle for power has entered into a new stage. The call went
out for mass protests after Friday prayers. The regime warned that any
protests will be met with the full force of the state. The stage was set
for a dramatic confrontation.
Finally, after a long wait, prime
minister Gannouchi announced changes in the government of national unity
which was formed in Tunisia after the overthrow of Ben Ali. The masses
of workers and youth, for two weeks, have been demanding the overthrow
of this government, which they consider as a continuation of the old
regime. They have staged massive regional strikes and demonstrations and
a sit-in outside the government’s office. This new government of
Gannouchi must also be rejected and the people take power into their own
hands.
Thousands of workers and youth braved the freezing cold to march through the centre of London today (Sat 29th Jan) to protest against the cuts. Cameron and Clegg may have hoped that, now the votes on tuition fees have been voted on, things would quiet down. They were wrong.
Here are some pictures from the day
The mass demonstrations demanding the
resignation of President Hosni Mubarak have continued to rage since
Tuesday across several cities, including Cairo and Suez. Debkafile’s
sources report that the situation in Cairo Wednesday was extremely tense
after thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets and made for
the Tel Talat Harb Square on the way to Liberation Square city centre,
where 30,000 protesters demonstrated on Tuesday.
UK readers of this site should note that there is a demonstration outside the Eygptian embassy (26 South Street, London, W1K 1DW) in London planned for 12.00 midday on Saturday.