Egypt Military Council Asks Ganzouri to Form New Government
Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Egypt's ruling military council asked former Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri to form a new government as thousands of protesters occupied Cairo's Tahrir Square overnight to demand the army cede power.
Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the council, made the request, state television said late yesterday without saying where it got the information. El-Ganzouri, speaking in a phone interview, said he met with Tantawi and declined to comment further.
The council, which took over after President Hosni Mubarak's ouster in February, is seeking to form a new interim government in an attempt to defuse unrest that erupted Nov. 19 and has left at least 38 people dead. The violence, which began in Cairo and cities including Alexandria, threatens to derail elections and undermine attempts to secure financing for an economy still struggling to recover from this year's revolt.
"There will be chaos" if the army steps down now, council member Mamdouh Shahine told reporters yesterday. "For the military council to abandon power and running the country's affairs would be a betrayal of trust, because it came after the approval of the people."
The generals issued an apology for the violence and pledged to compensate the families of those who died and conduct "an immediate investigation" to punish those responsible.
"The Military Council expresses its sorrows and issues an utmost apology to the loyal sons of Egypt who have fallen as martyrs during the recent events in Tahrir Square," according to a statement on a Facebook page.
Elections
Shahine reiterated Tantawi's pledge that the parliamentary elections, scheduled to begin Nov. 28, won't be postponed. Tantawi also promised on Nov. 22 to hold a presidential election by the end of June to complete the transfer of power to civilians. The concessions have failed to quell the protesters' demand for the military council to step down immediately.
"The military council must know that we don't trust it or its choices," the April 6 Youth Movement, one of the groups that organized the anti-Mubarak uprising, said in an e-mailed statement. "El-Ganzouri's name wasn't among those proposed by the people on the street."
Sahar Shebl, a 46-year-old accountant, arrived in Tahrir Square late yesterday after work to join the protest.
"We will continue to come back because our children died and took rubber bullets in their eyes here," he said. "The police are still using the same old intimidation tactics and they are the ones causing the violence. Our country will not slide into chaos in the absence of the military. We know how to protect ourselves and we showed it in January."
'Curse, Not Blessing'
The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest Islamic group, won't attend a million-person rally today that protesters have called for, Mahmoud Ghozlan, a spokesman for the organization, which stands to win one of the largest blocs in the next parliament, said by telephone.
Holding power is a "curse, not a blessing," yet most Egyptians retain "absolute confidence" in the army, council member Mukhtar El Moula, said at a press conference in Cairo yesterday. "It's in Egypt's best interests for elections to be held," he said. "The judges are ready and security is ready."
El Moula said he hoped a new government would be in place before elections.
Transition Hurdles
After the military council took over power from Mubarak, it dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution, saying it aimed to hand power to a democratically elected government within six months or when elections are held. Before Tantawi's announcement, no date had been set for a presidential election and a timetable for a transition indicated the vote may not be held before 2013.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Service yesterday cut Egypt's credit rating to B+, four steps below investment grade. It cited renewed violence amid a "highly polarized political landscape" that has weakened public finances and will lead to further declines in international reserves. An auction of local debt yesterday raised less than half the target amount while yields surged to record levels.'
Central Cairo was mostly calm as night fell. Security forces and protesters reached an agreement to end fighting along Mohammed Mahmoud Street, where the worst violence was seen, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported early yesterday. The army erected barriers between the two sides on the street, one of the main thoroughfares leading from Tahrir Square.
"Leave! Leave means go!" protesters in Tahrir Square chanted, referring to Tantawi. "Down with military rule!"
Public Opinion
A survey published by the Brookings Institution and Zogby International on Nov. 21 found that 43 percent of Egyptians believe that the military rulers are seeking to slow or reverse the gains of the uprising against Mubarak. The study was conducted among 3,000 people in five Arab countries last month, and cited a margin of error of 1.8 percentage points.
Egypt's economy grew 1.8 percent in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, its weakest performance in at least a decade. Foreign-currency reserves have declined about $14 billion this year to $22.1 billion last month.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mariam Fam in Cairo at mfam1@bloomberg.net Ahmed A Namatalla in Cairo at anamatalla@bloomberg.net .
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net .
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