Over the course of the last few days protests in Egypt have turned more and more into revolution-like gatherings. The protests turned violent on January 27th as tear gas was used to disperse crowds in Tahrir square. Riot police have begun crackdowns on the protesters and even journalists are not safe anymore as one Guardian reporter put it. Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters have taken to the streets now, not only in Central Cairo but also in Suez, Alexandria and other Egyptian cities as the protest spreads like wildfire around Egypt. Due to this Mubarak supposedly "dismissed his government and said a new cabinet would be announced", however "he refused to step down but promised to promote democracy. He also defended the role of the security forces in tackling the unrest" the Guardian has reported. This has angered demonstrators even more as they continue to demand more liberty, rights and independence. In fact, the demonstrators "set fire to the headquarters of the governing Nnational Democratic party (NDP) and besieged state TV and the foreign ministry." Tanks are reported to be converging on Tahrir Square threatening to turn this into another Tienanmen Square incident. Already, hospital sources say at least 13 people have been killed in Suez and 5 in Cairo and more than 1,000 have been wounded. Furthermore, just recently it has been said the Mubarak has allowed military troops to fire at protesters as he desperately clings to power. A curfew has been set in place to curb protests. Yet, the Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, has predicted change within "the next few days". It has been planned that a million will march on a soon upcoming critical day for the rebellion and this has caused the vice-president to say he will talk with the opposition. Moreover, "Egypt's army gave a powerful boost to the country's opposition by announcing that it would not use force to silence "legitimate" demands for democratic reforms in the Arab world's largest nation." As one regards this information it is hard to see how Mubarak still manages to cling onto power with so much pressure on him to step down. In fact the Egyptians now see themselves as citizens instead of subject and believe they have the right to change the country they live in. This is mainly because they feel they have no representation in the government which is of a old generation and is struggling to keep up with the demands of the heavily young population. Therefore, it is clear that protesters will not stop in their revolution until they feel they have achieved equality, as any constitution should permit. The emergency law right now is not allowing for the right of a free trial or the right to vote fairly. This is why the revolution in Egypt seems so certain to succeed, especially now with the protests increasing in number and intensity.
