Egyptian Military leader Tantawi faces Mubarak's Fate - Protests continue

Some Revolutions once ignited, take on a momentum, a life of its own, and no one knows where the roller coaster on the slippery trackless path will lead to.

Protestors escalate tension and violence demanding that Tantawi whom they view as another Mubarak, will not have the patience for gradual change. It's a gamble they are willing to risk. What about the majority of the Egyptians?

Minority interests will be thrown out of the window in mob and rapid democratic changes. The Islamic Brotherhood is the front runner. Fear that attacks on Christian community which began in the last days of Mubarak's rule would worsen.

The future is bleaker than the past glories.

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Activists have also been infuriated by newspaper photos of Tantawi opening roads and other projects, images that bear a striking resemblance to events attended by Mubarak.

But what angered many Egyptians most was his testimony in the trial of Mubarak over the killing protesters early in the year. His remarks were given behind closed doors, but Tantawi later confirmed lawyers' accounts, saying Mubarak did not order the army to open fire.

'The Egyptian public was certain that Mubarak had given orders to fire at protesters,' Zayaat said. For Tantawi to give a testimony that says the opposite ultimately shakes the people's trust in him.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2065194/Tantawi-Mubarak-Protesters-target-Egypts-military-leader-chants-graffiti-things-personal-fifth-day-clashes.html#ixzz1eZLPQkhB

Turnout in Tahrir Square was less than the million people that organisers had hoped for, but it was still a massive display of popular will on a scale that was also the hallmark of the uprising in January that ousted Mubarak. Hours before the rally was due to begin makeshift hospitals around the site were struggling to cope with the injured. Medical sources said 500 people were injured in two hours alone – one every five seconds, Al-Ahram Online reported.

"The armed forces, represented by their supreme council, do not aspire to govern and put the supreme interest of the country above all considerations," Tantawi declared.

The military did not "care about who will win" and "it's up to the people to decide who will rule," he said. The army was "completely ready to hand over responsibility immediately", and to return to its original mission to protect the country if the country wanted that, via a popular referendum if need be.

"Some tried to drag us into confrontation," he said. "But we will control ourselves to the maximum. We will never kill a single Egyptian."

As his broadcast ended, chants of "go, go, the people demand the overthrow of the regime," erupted from the crowd in Tahrir Square. Tantawi, like Mubarak in February, appeared to be far behind popular demands.

Not all reaction was negative. The Muslim Brotherhood, likely to emerge as frontrunner in the parliamentary elections, and anxious they take place on schedule, appeared to indicate that it was satisfied with the amended timetable.

But there was a powerful sense that popular pressure had forced the pace.

The pace of events caught western governments on the hop, unsure whether to go beyond demands for an end to the violence, to call for the imminent elections to be postponed, or, more ambitiously, for the Scaf to surrender power.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/22/egypt-protesters-tahrir-square-tantawi

The much admired and supported "people power" and democracy turn ugly :

These are not images of peaceful demonstrations and protests.

They defy authority and challenge the police and military to take drastic actions.

Tunisia Hamadi Jebeli - Caliphate statement dashed hopes for secular democracy and raised fears of Islamisation

Tunisia which sparked the Arab Spring domino has raised concern. It is common sense that in a power vacuum, two things can happen, either chaos or a well organised group, such as powerful religious setup will take over, or both if no consensus for national reconciliation can be arrived at.

With Tunisia and many Arab countries where dictatorships or authoritarianian governments fall, the absence of strong personality, institutions and worldly wise educated middle class make them extremely vulnerable.

Was this the democracy that Tunisians protestors and external supporters had envisaged?

The moderate Islamic party is not what is claimed and believed to be.

Tunisia's Islamists elects hails arrival of sixth Caliphate

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The Islamist politician likely to become Tunisia's first democratically elected prime minister has alarmed liberals and secularists by claiming the arrival of the "sixth caliphate", a controversial term for a Muslim empire.

Hamadi Jebeli, secretary-general of Ennahda, the moderate Islamist party which romped to victory in last month's elections, told a rally in the city of Sousse: "My brothers, you are at a historic moment in a new cycle of civilisation, God willing. We are in sixth caliphate, God willing."

Party officials, who have spent months insisting they wanted to pursue secular democratic politics rather than an international Islamist agenda, were forced on the defensive after his comments were posted on the internet.

But they may have scuppered the party's hopes of forging a broad-based coalition. The left-of-centre secular Ettakatol, which came third in the vote, suspended talks with Ennahda over forming a government.

"We thought we were going to build a second republic with our partner – not a sixth caliphate," Khemais Ksila, a senior member, said.

Ennahda's other prospective coalition partner, the likewise centre-left and secular Congress for the Republic, did not follow Ettakatol's lead, perhaps soothed by a deal making its leader Moncef Marzouki interim president.

The term "caliphate" refers to a governance system based on sharia law as formerly used by successive Islamic empires. It is a sensitive term in Arab politics due to its modern associations with extremist groups like al-Qaeda and especially in Tunisia where it is promoted by the radical Salafi movement, Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

Mr Jebeli's opponents are now planning a large demonstration to coincide with the opening of the new assembly.

Australian watchdog Chief exempted from merit based public service appointment accused by US government of corporate misconduct

Australia which boasts of a clean public service and has more red tape and safeguards unmatched by any western countries other than the UK is least expected to fall into picking the wrong man for the job. But it did.

ASIC top man did not tell of lawsuits

"The federal cabinet was unaware of two US lawsuits that arose at corporate watchdog chairman Greg Medcraft's former employer before he was hand-picked for the $700,000-a-year top job.

The Treasury also confirmed it had not advertised Mr Medcraft's position and had advised ASIC to appoint him as chairman.

An ASIC spokesman said Mr Medcraft could not disclose the specifics of the case, citing confidentiality. "

While majority of public service aspirants compete for well paid jobs with stringent selection criteria, the top positions are not subject to the same rigorous exercise and due diligence?

http://www.smh.com.au/national/asic-chief-exempt-from-job-policy-20111111-1nbs2.html

To whom is the government recruiter accountable to?

Can this be hushed up and forgotten because of confidentiality and national interests?

How different is this from revolving doors and lobbying in the USA and networking or "guan xi" (a euphemism for cronyism) in China and many developing nations? It is not just another $200,000 job but a whopping $700,000 of taxpayers' money!