| The honeymoon didn’t last long. In a move that will not win Prime Minister Essam Sharaf any friends amid the Tahrir crowd, the Cabinet approved the draft bill criminalizing strikes and demonstrations that result in disrupting businesses or affecting public or private money. Violators face imprisonment up to one year and a fine reaching up to LE 500,000. |
| The honeymoon didn’t last long. In a move that will not win Prime Minister Essam Sharaf any friends amid the Tahrir crowd, the Cabinet approved the draft bill criminalizing strikes and demonstrations that result in disrupting businesses or affecting public or private money. Violators face imprisonment up to one year and a fine reaching up to LE 500,000.Pre-January 25, people were only allowed to demonstrate in small numbers and, if lucky, got a few hours to vent before State Security cracked down on them. After the revolution’s mass protests ousted former President Hosni Mubarak, the idea of criminalizing demonstrations has not gone down well with the youth of Tahrir, to say the least. There are those who believe it is time for someone to put an end to strikes and other demonstrations that have hamstrung businesses and tied up traffic. The decision still took the country by surprise and is considered by pro-democracy groups as a setback and a threat to the nation’s hard-won freedom of expression. Minister of Justice Mohamed Abd El-Aziz El Guendy responded to the criticism by saying the law is not a tool to terrorize people and keep them from demonstrating and calling for their rights, but rather to ensure productivity and revive the economy, which sustained huge losses during the revolution. He added that the bill is temporary and will end as soon as the situation stabilizes. Sharaf pointed out that workers still have the right to demonstrate after working hours and over the weekend. |
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