Sharaf’s speech and the policy of trembling hands

Statement by the Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists…

Last night’s speech by Essam Sharaf confirmed what many already did not doubt: that this government is not, and will not be a government of the revolution. Despite the claims by the Prime Minister that he listened to the demands of the revolutionaries in the Tahrir Squares of all the cities of Egypt, his speech came several months too late, and does not even meet our minimum demands. He simply tried to deflect Egyptians’ anger by confirming that the employment of police officers accused of killing demonstrators will be terminated, and their trials speeded up, along with those of corrupt elements in the judiciary, and that he authorized the ministers in his cabinet to meet the revolutionaries’ demands.

We affirm that the first demand of the revolutionaries is the dismissal of the government, which is proving on a daily basis that the majority of its ministers serve the defunct regime and its policies. For four months, your government has done nothing, Dr. Sharaf. You only moved when the people raised their voices demanding a revolutionary government to implement the demands of the revolutionaries for the cleansing of the Interior Ministry and the other state agencies, such as the universities; the trade unions of the old regime’s men; the banning from political life of the members of the old parliament and local councils, who were members of the National Democratic Party; an end to military trials for civilians and the scrapping of the scandalous law criminalizing strikes and demonstrations; bringing in fair minimum and maximum wages; the recovery of companies which were privatized in dubious circumstances; the confiscation of the funds and property of corrupt profiteers who stole from the people, and the imposition of price controls.

These are just some of the demands that the revolutionaries are raising in order to realize the slogan of the revolution to which Dr. Sharaf proclaims allegiance: Change – Freedom – Social Justice. It is no longer acceptable for him to claim as excuse that the military is restricting his movements. He himself swore to the millions in Tahrir that, if he failed to realize the goals of the revolution, then he would return to the Square and rejoin the ranks of the revolutionaries. Events confirm that he was lying.

The difference between reform and revolution has become clear to everyone. What Egypt needs today is a revolutionary government which does not tremble at times before the military council, or before the Brotherhood and the Salafis at other times, and at other instances before businessmen and investors. The current government does not achieve the ambitions of the revolutionaries but rather serves the interests of the counter-revolutionary alliance of the men of the old regime who have been distributed by thirty years of rampant corruption and tyranny throughout every institution, including the military and the government itself.

The reply to Sharaf’s speech came ringing back from across Egypt: what a farce! What a farce! The people are no longer duped by the lies of the regime. Now is the time for the people to speak and the regime to listen. And the people want the overthrow of the regime.

Demonstrations will continue until we fulfill the demands of the revolution, which cost us so dear in blood!

Glory to the martyrs… Victory to the revolution… Power to the people…