Pics: Egypt back to Tahrir Square: What next?

Bangalore, July 4: February 2011. More than a million people had gathered at Tahrir Square in Egypt. They were all doing what they have not been able to do for decades. Each one was expressing himself in his own way and insisting on being counted. Their ultimate demand was to bring down dictator Mubarak.

It took 18 days of mass demonstration to terminate the thirty-year rule of Mubarak.

Soon after, Vice-president Omar Sulieman announced that Mubarak had resigned as president and transferred the authorities to the Supreme Council of the Armed forces. Fireworks were set off and vast crowds waving Egyptian flags celebrated at the Tahrir Square and all over the country.

Egypt celebrates Morsi's ouster

Egyptians wave national flags amid celebration in the wake of the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.

Morsi's opponents celebrate

Opponents of Egypt's ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi celebrate outside the presidential palace in Cairo.

Anti-Morsi protests at Tahrir Square

Opponents of Egypt's ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi shout slogans during a protest at Tahrir Square in Cairo.

Fireworks light the sky as opponents of Egypt's Islamist President

Fireworks light the sky as opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi celebrate in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, July 3, 2013. Army troops backed by armor and including commandos have deployed across much of the Egyptian capital, near protest sites and at key facilities and major intersections.

Military and Civilian Leaders

Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, center, flanked by military and civilian leaders in including reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei, far left, Tamarod leader Mahmoud Badr, second left, Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb, third from right, and Pope Tawadros II, second from right, as he addresses the nation on Egyptian State Television.

Tahrir Square is back to prominence in July 2013. Now, at the receiver's end is the country's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, who assumed office last year. It took just four days to oust Morsi after pressure mounted on him to bow out and the army took the final call.

Morsi of Muslim Brotherhood had won the presidential poll with 52% of votes and assumed office on June 30, 2012. He had taken away the control of state from the military, which governed Egypt in the interim period, by pushing leading generals into retirement and granting himself executive and legislative powers.

But Egypt's first experimentation with democracy did not take off. The country is back to the Tahrir Square. What next?

OneIndia News