CAIRO — Of the dozens of political forces and youth movements that have converged onto Tahrir Square in recent days to protest ongoing military rule in Egypt, the greatest impact was made by the ones not present.

Amidst the dozens of political parties, movements and coalitions that took part in a so-called Friday to “reclaim honour” and an open-ended sit-in in Tahrir Square, the Muslim Brotherhood, the salafist Al Noor Party and Al Gama’a Al Islamiya were nowhere to be found.

The absence was felt in numbers; a Friday million-person demonstration to “reclaim honour” attracted some 10,000 protesters, well short of the millions that took to the streets in response to a call for a million-person march attended by Islamists earlier in November.

Protesters said they felt abandoned by the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest political movement in Egypt, accusing the Islamist movement of being more interested in parliamentary seats than the “basic rights of Egyptians”.

The crowd chanted “Oh, Brotherhood, where are you? All of Egypt is in Tahrir,” and “the people want the Brotherhood to resign” as part of protests and marches that extended from after noon prayers on Friday late into the night.

“They will come to the streets when it suits their interests,” claimed Mohammed Maqawi, a 21-year-old independent protester.

The Islamist movement was a particular target for the dozens of independent women activists who came out in force to protest against the way female activists were mishandled and beaten by security forces during clashes earlier this month.

read more herehttp://jordantimes.com/anger-in-tahrir-as-islamists-abandon-protest-movement

Note by the editor: Well, elections have been held. Let’s give ‘democracy’ a chance ….