Opinion on the transition period in Egypt is polarising, with officials promoting a calculated approach, and demonstrators demanding more rapid change,writes Dina Ezzat "Of course I am all for the demands coming out of Tahrir Square and I think that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces [SCAF] should listen to these demands: I believe we should pressure the SCAF, but we do not necessarily need to go into full confrontation with it," said Mina Naguib, an activist and a graduating student of engineering. About six months ago, on 25 January, he went to Tahrir Square to join thousands of demonstrators calling for reform. Hours later, Naguib was shot by riot police. Heavily bleeding he was rushed to a nearby pharmacy and from there to Al-Helal Hospital in Ramsis Square. Surgeons told Naguib that he had some 68 bullet fragments throughout his body and offered him the maximum they could, given the conditions: disinfection. Naguib was helped to the back door of the hospital by sympathetic nurses. "They did that because police officers were there waiting to arrest all the wounded," he recalled. With blood all over his body and in smarting pain, Naguib found a taxi to drive him home where he suffered a devastating fever for 10 days. Today, Naguib still carries the bullet fragments in his body because doctors decided it would be difficult to remove them. "This means that I am not a normal person -- not really. I cannot run and evade a chase. I will not be in Tahrir tomorrow, but I will certainly be supporting the continuation of the revolution and the fulfilment of the demands that took us to the square in the first place," he said. For Naguib, as for Ezzat Hassan who is joining the sit-in at Tahrir, along with many others, the demands are simple: more prompt justice for those accused of ordering the killing of unarmed demonstrators, including toppled president Hosni Mubarak; elimination of all Mubarak regime sympathisers from administrative posts; pursuing democratisation that SCAF oversees but does not control; and social justice that is felt by the people. On Saturday afternoon, thousands of demonstrators moved from Tahrir Square in what they announced to be a peaceful march to the ministry to express dismay at the slow pace of change. Before reaching the site, the demonstrators were stopped by roadblocks set by the military police and regular police. According to accounts and those of independent witnesses, they were then forced into a confrontation with a group of thugs armed with knives, batons and explosive material. Abdallah says she was "devastated by the attack on the demonstrators". For her as for others, it was a clear reminder of the events of 2 February when thugs attacked demonstrators in Tahrir Square in an attempt to halt the revolution. For Mohamed, an officer at a marriage registrar office in Abbasiya, the problem is not just about SCAF and the demonstrators. "There is a third party." Mohamed Abdel-Tawwab watched the confrontation that took place Saturday. "The demonstrators came to Abbasiya around 4pm. Before they arrived some residents had summoned thugs from a nearby neighbourhood to throw them out, because some people were suggesting the demonstrators were not coming on a march, but rather to stage sit-in that would block trade in the neighbourhood." For Atef Sakr, "SCAF has to come out clearly and explain where it stands. After all, it was SCAF and not anybody else that accused the 6 April Movement of acting according to a foreign agenda." Sakr, angered by the attack on demonstrators in Abbasiya, decided to join the sit-in at Tahrir. In Tahrir, Sakr was not in favour of another march on SCAF. But he is indignant about a counter march that Islamist forces promised against the Tahrir sit-in, to show solidarity with SCAF. According to Amin Iskandar of the Karama Party -- a socialist party -- there will be no Islamist march against Tahrir. "I think this is over by now. We worked out an agreement to avoid confrontation amongst political forces," he told Al-Ahram Weekly. Iskandar suggested that many forces tried to contain the confrontation -- forces from the left (like the Karama) and from the right, like the Wasat Party, an Islamist outfit. For Iskandar, the issue is not marches or sit-ins but rather proper management of the transitional phase that started the day Mubarak stepped down, handing presidential powers to the SCAF. The main problem he sees is that SCAF is running the affairs of the country single-handedly, without due attention to diverse opinions and views. SCAF, according to informed sources, is planning a change of approach towards political forces to give this sense of inclusion. It is also planning a faster process of administrative overhauling. As for trials, the source said: "This is more complicated. It has to do with judges and it has to do with assessing the possible reaction of any sentence on the ground." He added that there is "concern" that passing tough sentences against some of the accused top officials could start acts of orchestrated havoc. "SCAF is being calculating and not slow, and it will be explaining that to representatives of diverse political forces in some meetings in the near future -- including Ramadan Iftars [the breaking of the fast]," the same official stated. It remains to be seen if more patience can be demanded of demonstrators in Tahrir. Meanwhile, a weeks long sit-in continues.
