{"id":47114,"date":"2013-07-02T08:20:37","date_gmt":"2013-07-02T07:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/egypts-revolution-continues-millions-pour-into-streets-to-call-for-presidents-ouster\/47114\/"},"modified":"2013-07-02T08:52:44","modified_gmt":"2013-07-02T07:52:44","slug":"egypts-revolution-continues-millions-pour-into-streets-to-call-for-presidents-ouster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/latest-news\/egypts-revolution-continues-millions-pour-into-streets-to-call-for-presidents-ouster\/","title":{"rendered":"Egypt’s Revolution Continues: Millions Pour Into Streets to Call for President’s Ouster"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The following is a transcript of Democracy Now!’s segment on the Egyptian protests.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

NERMEEN\u00a0SHAIKH:<\/strong>\u00a0Massive protests continued overnight across Egypt calling for the resignation of President Mohamed Morsi. Millions of people have turned out for the rallies that started early on Sunday morning in Cairo\u2019s Tahrir Square, where the crowds have been the largest since the 2011 revolution that ousted President Hosni Mubarak. Tens of thousands of people remain in Tahrir Square and outside the presidential palace, vowing to stay until Morsi steps down.<\/p>\n

PROTESTER:<\/strong>\u00a0[translated] I am a part of this revolution because this regime is worse than its predecessor. At least we didn\u2019t have the problems we are seeing now, with no water, electricity, fuel. There\u2019s nothing. It gets worse every day. So he should leave and let us choose someone else. And this time we need to choose correctly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

NERMEEN\u00a0SHAIKH:\u00a0<\/strong>Protesters accuse Morsi of failing to address crucial economic and security problems in the year since he assumed power. Critics argue that the country\u2019s first Islamist president has put the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood party ahead of the country\u2019s wider interests. Anti-government demonstrators reportedly ransacked the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo and set it ablaze. Egyptian security forces said eight people have been killed in clashes around the headquarters since Sunday.<\/p>\n

AMY\u00a0GOODMAN:<\/strong>\u00a0At least 16 deaths were reported across Egypt Sunday alone. Among those killed in days of unrest was Andrew Pochter, a 21-year-old Kenyon College student from Chevy Chase, Maryland. Officials said he died of his injuries after being stabbed in the chest during protests in the coastal city of Alexandria late on Friday.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, thousands of Morsi supporters staged a rally in the Cairo suburb of Nasr City. During a news conference, a presidential spokesman urged protesters to respect the democratic process.<\/p>\n

EHAB\u00a0FAHMY:<\/strong>\u00a0[translated] The presidency and the president are completely open to conducting a real and serious national dialogue with the various political parties and national powers. Let me clarify a few things. Freedom of expression and the right to protest peacefully our rights that are enshrined and protected by the Constitution for all, but acts of violence, sabotage and killings are acts that are condemned and unjustified.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

AMY\u00a0GOODMAN:<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s Egyptian presidential spokesman Ehab Fahmy.<\/p>\n

We go now to Cairo to\u00a0Democracy Now!\u00a0correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous. His most recent article<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0The Nation\u00a0magazine is called “Egyptians to Morsi: ‘We Don’t Want You.\u2019” Sharif is joining us from Tahrir Square, where, to say the least, it is very noisy.<\/p>\n

Welcome back to\u00a0Democracy Now!, Sharif. Can you talk about what is happening right now and the significance of this mass protest across Egypt over the weekend?<\/p>\n

SHARIF\u00a0ABDEL\u00a0KOUDDOUS:\u00a0<\/strong>Well, Amy, as you can hear behind me, there\u2019s still thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square and also at the presidential palace. What happened yesterday was really one of the largest protests\u2013some are calling it the largest\u2013in Egypt\u2019s history, a massive turnout that saw hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people take to the streets, fill Tahrir Square, fill the presidential palace, and not just in Cairo, but in Alexandria and cities across the Delta and in upper Egypt, as well, really a mass display of dissent that goes to show the revolutionary spirit in Egypt is still very much alive.<\/p>\n

And this came, of course, as you mentioned, on the first anniversary of the inauguration of President Mohamed Morsi. He was elected one year ago with a very thin majority, a 51 percent majority, against a stalwart of the former regime, Ahmed Shafik. And since then, there has been a growing polarization amongst the political class, with the Muslim Brotherhood withdrawing more into itself and its Islamist supporters\u2013they\u2019ve even lost support among some Salafi groups, as well\u2013while on the street and the lives of ordinary Egyptians have become much harder. Prices of food and medicine and other staple goods have gone up. Crime and insecurity and vigilante violence has increased. There\u2019s electricity blackouts now in the hot summer months that occur every day. There are fuel shortages that cause tremendously long lines, that cause stifling traffic around the country. And so, what we saw yesterday was a coming together of Egyptians from many different walks of life, from ordinary Egyptians who are fed up with the difficulties of everyday life that have only worsened in this last year and since the revolution began, to members of the political class who are opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood, to members who are tied to the former regime who took to the streets to try and oust the Muslim Brotherhood, as well. So it was a very large display of dissent.<\/p>\n

Republished with permission from:: AlterNet<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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