Egyptian Prime Minister Doctor Essam Sharaf asked Egyptians to understand the reasons that called for passing a law that criminalizes protests and demonstrations if they obstruct traffic or affect people's work. He justified taking such a step by the fact that it is aimed at confronting the counterrevolution and defending the January 25 Revolution from those who are trying to assault it, to spread chaos and to prevent the country from regaining stability. Nice words from a Prime Minister who came to his post through a series of protests and demonstrations that reached the extent of confrontation with security forces and the fall of many martyrs. This is the same man, Sharaf, who, when he sought to gain legitimacy to govern, went to Tahrir Square and spoke to the crowds there, asserting that, if he failed to achieve the goals of the revolution, he would return to the square and leave the position of Prime Minister to once again join the masses and carry on the revolution with them. But people in Egypt consider the law to represent a restriction imposed on freedom of expression and to count as a blow against the revolution and the revolutionaries, especially as major figures of the former regime and leaders of the formerly ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) remain in their positions or enjoy the freedom to plot, conspire and level blows at the revolution and its achievements at many levels. If Sharaf had wanted people to accept the new law and understand the reasons for it, he should have implemented measures focused towards “cleansing” the country of the remnants of the former regime, not in the manner of the French revolution by placing them under the blade of the guillotine, but at least by removing them from their positions, positions from which they can frighten people from the repercussions of the revolution, drive certain segments of the population to demonstrate and protest for particular reasons, or bring baltagiya (thugs) and outlaws to spread terror among people, leading chaos to prevail and thus society to continue going in circles, without Egypt being placed on the right track which the revolution sought after. A blatant example of this can be seen in the Egyptian media, as the people who promoted the former regime and its major figures, and who justified the policies of corruption for years, are the same people who are running the state media, and in fact are resisting all attempts to “topple” them from their positions. Oddly, those of them who sought to ride the wave of the revolution feel no shame, and do not realize that times have changed and that technology exposes them, especially on the background of this generation of Egyptian youths who have amazed the world with their revolution, and who are certainly able to edit and publish everything those who exalted the former regime used to promote, increasing their scandal manifold. These people have always tried to portray objections against them as having reasons that concern specific groups, in order to defame those complaining about them on the one hand, and to justify the deeds they committed before the revolution and throughout the years of rule by the NDP on the other. In his speech to the Egyptian people to justify the law criminalizing protests, Sharaf made sure to assert that all those who had harmed the revolution would be removed from their positions, but he was speaking on state television, in which most of the senior staff is still in place. They in turn did not give his speech the prime slot in the news, as they do by not broadcasting the verdicts issued by military courts every day against baltagiya (thugs) and outlaws, while they are the same people who seize even the most common incident the moment it takes place to broadcast it, comment on it and promote it, in order to increase people's fears and make them regret the days of stability! Nevertheless, the game is quite plain and Egyptians are well aware of it. Indeed, those who had achieved their interests with the NDP and during the years of its rule refuse to admit that a revolution has taken place in the country. On the other hand, the Egyptian people seem insistent on completing their revolution, even under the new law. Indeed, there are so many laws the Mubarak regime made use of against every objection and in the face of every protest, and yet Mubarak and his regime left when millions came out on January 25 chanting “the people want to overthrow the regime”. Some of them were aware that they would be facing bullets, and there are certainly other Egyptians who remain steadfast in their stance. Indeed, the people will never be satisfied anymore unless the remnants of the regime are overthrown.
