Springing a reminder

Tahrir Square was where the Arab Spring found its most potent symbol,the most stirring expression and,in the flight of Hosni Mubarak,its first big strike. It was the epicentre of the revolution of 18 days. But after just eight months of Mubaraks fall and less that a week before parliamentary elections,Egypt is sizing up the unfinished agenda of its uprising. And its discontent is converging again on Tahrir.

Transition is any day a messy business,the aftermath of any rebellion can be confounding in its mixture of the good and the bad. But a large majority of the Egyptians are in no mood to see Mubaraks rule being replaced with an extended iron rule of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces SCAF. For four days now,protesters,who want the SCAF to transfer power to a civilian government sooner than it has envisaged in its protracted schedule,have been battling with the riots police. More than 20 people have died and hundreds injured. The interim civilian government,headed by Essam Sharaf,has resigned. The military,which was the friend of pro-democracy agitators early this year,has turned into their most hated enemy. Under Mohamed Tantawi,the field marshal who heads the SCAF,some positives had emerged: Mubarak was put on trial and Egypt mediated a soldier-prisoners swap between Israel and Palestine. But those acts were clear assertion of power; when it has come to relinquishing of power,the SCAF has proved less than enthusiastic. In the tortuous timetable of elections that are scheduled to begin on November 28,a president with full constitutional powers would perhaps be elected only in early 2013. The army,which is out of favour for its extension of emergency rule,trial of civilians in military courts and repression of protests,has shown its hand also in its proposal to keep itself and its budget outside the control of a civilian government.

The voices on the street,for real democracy at the earliest,cannot be ignored by the SCAF. Democracy is not just a schedule of elections. If the forthcoming poll is to have legitimacy among the people it is meant for,they should be taken into confidence. Egypt has an enormous challenge ahead: to build democracy and to rebuild institutions destroyed in the 30-year Mubarak reign. For that,even the first steps have to be right.