Egyptians to stage mass rally in Cairo to press military rulers

The iconic Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital of Cairo is waiting for a "million-people demonstration" on Friday to urge the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to reconsider the electoral law and end the emergency state. Under the name of "Reclaim the Revolution", many political forces agreed to join the big rally Friday. "We really need to reclaim the revolution spirit based on the people's willing," said Ramy Mohamed, an activist. The SCAF declared Tuesday a supplementary constitutional declaration for the forthcoming parliamentary elections scheduled to start on Nov. 28. The decree was opposed by some political groups as it allows two-thirds of seats for the parties and one third for independents. "We can't understand why the supreme council wants to weaken the coming parliament by such a law only promising for the old regime remnants and the powerful people exactly like the old regime," said Mohamed. On Wednesday, some 13 political parties and movements held a meeting and decided to protest against the law. The activists want a timetable for the military forces to transfer the power to a civilian authority, amend the parliamentary law and annul the emergency law. The Freedom and Justice Party affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood has said it would not partake in the demonstrations although they support the demands. "We are with all the demonstration demands, but we won't take part in the 'Reclaim the Revolution' demonstration as we didn't arrange with other forces," Fareed Esmael, a leading figure in the Freedom and Justice Party, told Xinhua. The Freedom and Justice party is against the electoral law and has submitted a demand to the SCAF. "We submitted our demand of reforming the parliamentary law to the SCAF, so there is no need for million(-people) demonstrations, " said Ismael. Activists on the Facebook called Friday as the "Second Friday of Anger," while the SCAF warned Thursday on its Facebook page against any threats to the national security during the demonstrations.