After firing the Cabinet, Egypt’s president said the country needed dialogue, not violence.
CAIRO: Four days after angry protesters first took to the street and with at least 27 people killed in subsequent street battles, a stoney-faced Mubarak said he had sacked his Cabinet but refused to step down in an address broadcast shortly after midnight on Saturday after a day of unprecedented violent protests.
Here are excerpts of his speech.
“I have asked the government to resign and tomorrow there will be a new government,” Mubarak, 82, said on state television as protests raged in Cairo and other cities despite a night-time curfew.
“We will not backtrack on reforms. We will continue with new steps which will ensure the independence of the judiciary and its rulings, and more freedom for citizens,” he said.
“I have been closely following the protests and what they were asking for and calling on. My instructions to the government have stressed on providing it with an opportunity to express the opinions and demands of the citizens …
“I deeply regret the loss of innocent lives among protesters and police forces …
“The government stayed committed to those instructions and that was obvious in the way police forces dealt with our youth, in taking initiative to protect them … before those protests turned into riots that threaten the system and obstruct the daily life of citizens …
“There is a fine line between freedom and chaos and I lean towards freedom for the people in expressing their opinions as much as I hold on to the need to maintain Egypt’s safety and stability …
“Fellow citizens, those protests came to express the legitimate expectations for more speed in halting unemployment and enhancing living conditions, fighting poverty and standing firmly against corruption …
“Egypt’s youth are its most valuable asset and looting of public and private property, destroying what we have built, is not the route to follow …
“My conviction is still set to continue political, economic and social reforms for the sake of a free and democratic Egyptian community … I am convinced that the economy is too big and serious to be left to economists alone …
“What happened throughout these protests extends beyond looting, chaos and fire to a larger scheme aimed at shaking stability and an attack on legitimacy …
“It is not by setting fires and by attacking private and public property that we achieve the aspirations of Egypt and its sons, but they will be achieved through dialogue, awareness and effort …
“The path of reform which we have chosen is irreversible and cannot go backward. We will proceed with new steps that affirm our respect for the independence of the judiciary … new steps towards more democracy and freedoms … new steps to face unemployment and increase the standard of living and services … new steps to stand by the poor and those with limited income. Our choices and our goals are what will determine our fate and our future …
“I carry the foremost responsibility in protecting the security of the nation and the people …
“I have asked the government to present its resignation today (Friday) and I will name a new government starting from tomorrow … to effectively deal with the priorities of this current phase …
“I will defend Egypt’s safety and stability and its people’s wishes, for that is the responsibility and the trust endowed in me when I swore an oath in front of God and the nation to protect it.”
Protesters who have been demanding Mubarak step down, as well as an end to endemic state corruption and police brutality that have become systematic under his rule, dismissed the speech as too little, too late. “We don’t care if the government resigns, we want him to resign,” said demonstrator Khaled, 22, in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.
Student Abdo, 20, said: “Prices are still high, the problems are still there, this doesn’t solve anything.”
In Cairo, hundreds of demonstrators defied an overnight curfew and gathered in the city centre, climbing onto army tanks and throwing rocks at police.
Thirteen people died in clashes with police on Friday in the canal city of Suez, at least five in Cairo and two in Mansura, north of the capital, with many fatalities caused by rubber-coated bullets, medics and witnesses said. Seven more people died on Wednesday and Thursday.
Key allies including the United States, Britain and Germany on Friday expressed concern about the violence, with Britain saying the protesters had “legitimate grievances.”
Thousands of people ignored an overnight 6pm (1600 GMT) to 7am am curfew in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez announced by state television, with many protesters urging soldiers to join them.
“The army and the people, together!” protesters chanted outside the television building.
Soldiers made V-for-victory signs near Cairo’s opera house more than two hours after the curfew began, as some civilians clambered aboard the armoured vehicles.
Protesters poured out of mosques after Friday prayers and ran rampant through the streets, throwing stones and torching two police stations. Police chased them with batons, firing tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets.
Demonstrators torched the Cairo headquarters of Mubarak’s ruling National Democratic Party, with television showing footage of the building overlooking the Nile still burning on Saturday morning. In Suez, protesters overran a police station, seized weapons and set fire to security force vehicles.
The demonstrations, inspired by events in Tunisia, are the largest in Egypt in the three decades of Mubarak’s rule, sending shock waves across the region.
In addition to the 27 people reported killed, hundreds more have been injured and some 1,000 arrested since the protests erupted on Tuesday.
In Washington, the Pentagon said the visiting Egyptian army’s chief of staff and other senior officers departed on Friday, cutting short a planned week-long visit.
SOURCE: Gulf News
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