Egypt politically adrift after violent clashes of the last days

Midan Tahrir on Monday night. (Reuters)

 Egypt seems is adrift after the events of the past few days. The protesters are demanding the formation of a  temporary government of national salvation and a clear timetable for the presidential elections. They hope that at least a million people will come to Tahrir today, Tuesday, in order to stress these demands. 

Al Ahram Online:  The Revolutionary Youth Coalition (RYC), has  issued a statement – along with 37 other political parties and groups – calling for a million-man protest in Tahrir Square on Tuesday to demand the dismissal of the Essam Sharaf government; the formation of a national salvation government; presidential elections by April 2012; and total reform of the interior ministry, including the dismantling of the Central Security Forces and accountability for those guilty of violence against protesters.

Meanwhile the Sharaf-governement itself already tendered its resignation following the violence against the protesters. Al Ahram Online reports: Following a meeting of the Crisis Management group of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, and a later meeting between Sharaf and the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), a government spokesman announced that Sharaf had submitted his government's resignation to SCAF on Monday evening.
The government spokesman, Mohamed Hegazi, said that "in appreciation of the critical situation in which the country is passing through, the government will continue to perform its duties until such a time as the SCAF decides upon the resignation."

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) "invited all the political and national forces for an emergency dialogue to look into the reasons behind the aggravation of the current crisis and ways to resolve it as quickly as possible," it said in a statement carried by the MENA news agency.

The SCAF expressed its "deep sorrow over the deaths and injuries during the recent painful events, and offered its deepest condolences to the families of the victims."
It said it ordered security forces "to take all necessary measures to secure the demonstrators and to exercise the utmost restraint."