Hundreds of thousands streamed towards Tahrir Square in Cairo yesterday on the first anniversary of the beginning of the Egyptian revolution. The square was completely packed, surrounding places like Talaat Harb square or the Qasr el- Nil bridge were as well. Al-Ahram Online reported that some people thought that the day saw a bigger turnout than on 11 February of last year – the day that president Hosni Mubarak stepped down.
Like on 25 January 2011 marches to the square were held from places like Mostafa Mahmoud Mosque, Cairo’s Ramses, Ghamra, Shubra and Giza districts and even farther away, like Ma'adi. Again according to Al-Ahram Online it is believed that from these marches alone some 300,000 people entered Tahrir, where also the Moslem Brotherhood with its Freedom and Justice Party which has become the dominant force in the parliament, was very much present. Also there were large crowds in Alexandria and other places like Suez.
From the reports it was clear that this anniversary was not solely a celebration, but also a reminder that the people that made the revolution are determined to continue Egypt's path to freedom and democracy. There were many slogans from the more leftist groups demanding the military to step down. The Freedom and Justice Party supporters though, by their huge presence, rather expressed their confidence that they are the biggest fraction in parliament now and that the military will keep their promise and withdraw from power in June.
Not everybody is even assured of the trustworthiness of SCAF. The April 6 youth movement and the National Front for Justice and Democracy, for their part, started an open-ended sit-in in Tahrir Square.
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