CAIRO — The Egyptian army has tightened its grip over the country by suspending the constitution, dissolving parliament and calling for elections within six months, key demands of the protest movement that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
The actions by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces came two days after Mubarak resigned and were an indication to protesters that the military, the most respected institution in the nation, was edging toward forming a credible democracy. However, the army left intact the former president’s council of ministers to run the government.
The steps Sunday showed that the nation’s generals, who took power as Mubarak stepped down, were trying to navigate a precarious course between asserting military authority and addressing the issues that drove protesters into the streets.
Reformers and demonstrators welcomed the army’s intervention as a signal that after 30 years of dominance and corruption by Mubarak’s ruling party, independent candidates and opposition voices would potentially gain a voice in a future government. In many countries, such a gambit by the military would invoke concern, but Egyptians have grown to trust the army more than politicians and other state institutions.
“It’s a move toward a transition to democracy that the army had emphasized in earlier statements,” said Nabil Abdel Fattah, a political analyst. “It’s a guarantee the military is moving closer to a real parliamentary state.”
Earlier Sunday, the military moved into Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising in Cairo, and began to clear out the tent city that had sprung up since the revolt against Mubarak’s rule began Jan. 25. Demonstrators largely did not resist their efforts, though small groups remained in the plaza.
Protesters and opposition leaders had been demanding that parliament be dissolved and that the constitution be reformed to curtail the power of the president and allow wider political freedoms, including repealing laws that limit independent candidates.
Those limitations and intimidation by security forces allowed Mubarak’s National Democratic Party to sweep parliamentary elections in November. The elections were widely condemned as rigged for excluding candidates from the Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups. The outrage over the November poll was one in a string of triggers that led to the uprising and eventually toppled the Egyptian leader.
Some demonstrators had expressed concern that an increased military role might threaten civil rights and delay reforms and new elections.
But political analyst Diaa Rashwan noted: “If the army had wanted to take over the country, they would have already. So far, it has only been the army that has listened to the demands of the protesters and acted upon them.”
The effort to clear Tahrir Square was a further sign of the military’s determination to restore normalcy to the nation’s capital. The popular uprising shut down Egypt’s economy, sparked clashes and froze activity in downtown Cairo, home to the government and major businesses.
Cars honked and drove around the city hub for the first time in more than two weeks as scores of soldiers fanned out into the remaining tent cities on the square and unceremoniously tore them down.
