Impact of Tunisia and Egypt: Protests all over, crackdowns and concessions by gov'ts

[the_future_modernes]

Revolt and Revolution seem to be in the air. Newly precarious autocratic gov'ts are watching in some fear. Some of them are already dealing with protests in their own countries. Some of them are making concessions to stave off or calm down cries of democracy now!!! Here's a roundup partly based off a Firedoglake post and off a Wikipedia article



THE UNREST



OMAN

In January after the Tunisian revolt there were protests in Oman Oman protestors call for fight against corruption The headline leaves out the fact that they are also fighting against high food prices

MUSCAT - Some 200 Omanis protested on Monday against high prices and corruption, a rare phenomenon in the Arab Gulf monarchy that seems to have been touched off by the revolt in Tunisia.

"Rising prices have destroyed the dreams of ordinary citizens," read one banner carried by the crowd gathered outside the housing ministry, where police manned a security cordon but did not intervene.

The protesters, who appeared after they received emails and messages on their mobile telephones calling for the demonstration, chanted slogans against corruption and the high cost of living.

"No to corruption. No to corruption," shouted the protesters who called for "higher wages" and "fixed prices" for basic food items, the cost of which have swelled since the global financial downturn. MORE

JORDAN

Jan 14 Jordanians march against inflation: Thousands vent anger in Amman and other cities against government's inability to rein in prices and poverty.

Thousands of Jordanians have taken to the streets of the capital Amman and other cities to protest against rising commodity prices, unemployment and poverty.

The protesters are calling on the government headed by Samir Rifai, the prime minister, to step down.

Demonstrators, including trade unionists and leftist party members, carried national flags and chanted anti-government slogans in downtown Amman.

They called Rifai a "coward" and demanded his resignation.

"Prices, particularly gasoline and food, are getting out of hand,'' Buthaina Iftial, a 24-year-old civil servant, said.

"We're becoming poorer every day,'' she said, holding a poster with a piece of Arabic flatbread attached.

Police and plainclothes officers formed rings around the demonstrators to contain the protests. There were no reports of arrests or violence.MORE

This is an interesting perspective: Jan 17 Soccer: A Flashpoint for Deepening Cleavages in Jordanian Society

Soccer factored in recent protests in Jordan in ways it didn’t in protests that last week toppled Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, forced Algeria to roll back hikes in commodity prices and prompted the governments of Morocco and Libya as well as Jordan’s King Abdullah to step on the break of increasing prices of staple goods and services.

While Jordanians watched closely as Tunisians defied violent government repression over the past month, North Africa like the Gulf is to many of them disconnected, faraway parts of world with which they share some cultural traits. To Jordanians, North Africa is the Maghreb and the Gulf the Khaleej, while their most immediate world is the Mashreq or what non-Arabs refer to as the Levant or the Fertile Crescent. As a result, Jordanians cheered last Thursday when their national team knocked Saudi Arabia out of the Asian Cup in Qatar. Less than 24 hours later thousands of those fans hit the streets of Jordanian cities to protest against the government’s economic policies and demand the resignation of Prime Minister Samir Rifai.MORE

SUDAN

Feb 2 Young Sudanese Start Protest Movement

In the past week, in an unusual show of boldness, thousands of young Sudanese, many responding to the Facebook call, have braved beatings and arrests to protest against their government. The parallels to Egypt and Tunisia are obvious — Sudan is a notoriously repressive Arab country, ruled by the same strongman for more than 21 years, historically and culturally close to its big brother just down the Nile, Egypt. And it was already seething with economic and political discontent even before demonstrators started taking to the streets of Cairo.

Though the protests are often small — a few dozen to a few hundred young people — they seem to be well organized and widespread across northern Sudan, from Khartoum, the capital, to Omdurman and El Obeid to Kosti, a relatively quiet city on the banks of the Nile.

The grievances tend to be focused on Sudan’s wounded economy and practical things, like the rapidly rising prices of sugar and fuel, though protesters have also shouted out against political repression. The police have cracked down hard, arresting dozens and beating countless others with batons and sticks. One student died this week from injuries that other protesters said had been caused by the police.

Still, many Sudanese students seem fired up, even if the masses have yet to fall in line behind them.

“There is a rising conscience in the region,” said Issraa el-Kogali, 29, an amateur filmmaker who joined a recent protest in Khartoum. “So why not go for it?” MORE

LIBYA

Jan 16 Protests in Libya over housing go into third day

Protests in several cities in Libya continued for a third day over the late completion of government subsided housing.

Last night hundreds of people broke into vacant houses and took over about 800 vacant units in Bani Walid city (180 kilometres south east from the capital, Tripoli).

Several activists on social network sites reported that over 600 units in similar projects in Benghazi were taken over yesterday by protesters that have been waiting for years to move in to their homes.

The Libyan government has run subsided housing projects for poor families in several cities for years. However local authorities in some projects postponed the delivery of hundreds of housing units to the owners who have already signed contracts and paid most of the installments.

A statement released by the National Front for Salvation of Libya, an opposition movement established in 1981, described the frustration of the protesters in Bani Walid: “Bani Walid has no basic services; thousands of people are without houses and the local authority is corrupted, it only delivers services with bribes. Nothing will make Bani Walid calm but freedom, justice and transparency.” MORE

Demonstrations in Libya and Jordan put Tunisian model to the test



LEBANON

Jan 26 Lebanon had a day of rage But theirs is a different case. It seems that that day of rage was set up by opposition figures protesting against a Hezbollah backed candidate for Prime Minister. As of Feb 2 Here's an article on that situation: Mikati upbeat about representative cabinet


SAUDI ARABIA

Jan 21 Man dies after setting himself on fire in Saudi Arabia


Jan 29 Hundreds detained in Saudi Arabia over protests

Saudi authorities detained hundreds of demonstrators on Friday in Jeddah who gathered to protest against poor infrastructure after deadly floods swept through Saudi Arabia's second biggest city, police and witnesses said.

Some Jeddah streets remained submerged on Friday, and electricity was still out in low-lying parts of the city two days after torrential rains caused flooding that killed at least four people and swept away cars.MORE

QATAR

Egyptian Expats protested in solidarity in the country of Qatar


DJIBOUTI
Feb 1 People in Djibouti protest againts President Gelleh

DJIBOUTI (Somalilandpress) There was peaceful protest in the capital of Djibouti on Friday. About 300 protesters gather near the governmental palace to protest against the current Djibouti president Mr. Ismail Omar Gelleh. The Police escorted the protesters after the Friday sermons along the major street that leads from the Djibouti International Seaport to the governmental palace in the business district of the country. The protesters shouted slogans that denounced the current president and demand him not to seek another six-year term. Demonstrators carried signs and large banners that called for more liberty and for political and social reform.

...

Current Djibouti president Ismail Omar Guelleh has been in power since 1999 after replacing his uncle as the leader of the ruling party. He lifted the constitutional limit to run for a third six-year term at the end of this year. The country has been without creditable opposition for last 15 years, after the largest opposition group (The Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy, FRUD) signed agreement with current government and joined in to form a unity government. With absolute majority in the parliament, the current ruling party has modified the constitution to allow the current president to run for a third term. Number of prominent opposition leaders have accused the government of corruption and self-serving power manipulations.

Djibouti, a former French colony which separates Eritrea from Somalia, hosts France’s largest military base in Africa and a major U.S. base. Its port is used by foreign navies patrolling busy shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia to fight piracy.MORE

THE RESPONSE


OMAN

The protests seem to be a one-off so far.

SYRIA AND JORDAN

Jan 17 Syria hikes key price subsidy after Tunisia events and Jordan too tried to make food and other staples more affordable.

Syrian authorities sharply raised a key subsidy on Sunday in a reversal of policy after Tunisia's president was driven from power by unrest over soaring prices, unemployment and state repression.

The Syrian government, which has been controlled by the Baath Party since it took power in 1963, announced it had increased the heating oil allowance for public workers by 72 percent to the equivalent of $33 a month.

The government had hitherto been slashing subsidies as it lifts bans on private enterprise to try and repair decades of economic stagnation and draw back capital.

In neighbouring Jordan, the state announced a $225 million package of cuts in the prices of several fuels and staple products including sugar and rice.MORE

And of course as previously reported, Jordan's King sacked is entire cabinet for the 15th time and appointed a new Prime Minister, but that might not be enough:Protests Spreading to Jordan, Syria, and Sudan

Jordan’s opposition party is planning a massive demonstration on Friday to protest the new prime minister. Bakhit was appointed with a mandate to take "practical, swift, and tangible steps to launch a real political reform process, in line with the king’s vision of comprehensive reform, modernization and development." This announcement has done little to appease the Jordanians who have been demanding political change, economic improvements and fresh faces for quite some time. Jordan has been affected by weeks of protests by frustrated citizens.A href="http://www.africanaonline.com/2011/02/protests-spreading-to-jordan-syria-and-sudan/">MORE

Jordan's king acknowledges reforms have stumbled

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan's King Abdullah II on Thursday acknowledged that reforms in the country have "slowed and stumbled," and urged to the nation's Muslim opposition to work with the new government to give the people a greater say in politics.

The appeal comes a day after the powerful Muslim Brotherhood rejected an offer from the country's newly appointed prime minister to join his Cabinet, saying the new premier is the wrong person to introduce reforms.

The Royal Palace said in a statement that Abdullah, who is under growing public pressure to give Jordanians a greater voice in public life in the wake of the upheaval in Tunisia and Egypt, told leaders of the Brotherhood and other Islamist groups that he wanted "everyone to work together to achieve needed progress in the political reform process and increase the citizens' participation in decision-making." MORE

LIBYA

Libya has decided to take a carrot and stick approach:


Demonstrations in Libya and Jordan put Tunisian model to the test

Lessons to be learned?

GaddafiBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi is trying to deal with protests peacefully

Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gaddafi appears to have drawn a lesson from President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's failed handling of the protests in Tunisia, ordering police to avoid clashes with demonstrators while protecting government buildings. The country's Revolutionary Council said in a statement that it would investigate the complaints and promised that "all the problems will be solved soon through the legitimate authorities."

At the same time, however, Gaddafi true to his idiosyncratic eccentrism, voiced what other leaders probably believe but have kept to themselves. Describing the departure of Ben Ali as "a great loss" for Tunisia, the Libyan leader said he still considered Ben Ali the country's constitutional leader.MORE

Libya sets up $24 bln housing fund amid Arab protests

Libya has both the highest demographic growth and unemployment rates in the North Africa region stretching from Egypt to Morocco.


Libya has set up a $24-billion fund for investment and local development that will focus on providing housing for its rapidly growing population, the online Oea newspaper reported on Thursday.

In rare unrest, coinciding with a popular revolt in neighbouring Tunisia, Libyan citizens earlier this month occupied hundreds of homes that were still under construction and ransacked the offices of foreign contractors building them.

Quoting Industry and Trade Minister Mohammed Hweji, Oea said the setting up of the fund follows "decreases in custom and tax duties on food products and in prices of other staples".However they warn clerics to tell congregations that protests are wrong

and they are banning soccer matches:

Libya Bans Soccer Matches in Fear of Anti-Government Protests

Libya, concerned that mass anti-government demonstrations in neighbouring Egypt and the toppling of President Zine Abedine Ben Ali of Tunisia on its western border could fuel further protests in the North African country, has cancelled all soccer matches, according to Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language news network quoted unidentified Libyan sources as saying a state of emergency and a security alert had been declared in Libyan areas bordering on Egypt. It said security sources were deploying in the region.
The sources told Al Jazeera that security forces were instructed to stop all public gatherings. The decision of the Libyan Football Federation to cancel all matches is believed to have been taken as a result of government attempts to prevent further demonstrations in Libya.
Soccer has emerged as an important factor in the wave of protests sweeping the Arab world. Soccer fans in Egypt are a major force in the protests that have already forced President Hosni Mubarak to form a new government and are gunning to put an end to his 30-year rule.MORE

ALGERIA

Algeria to lift emergency powers: President says country's 19-year state of emergency will be lifted in near future in apparent bid to stave off unrest.

Algeria's 19-year state of emergency will be lifted in the "very near future", state media has quoted Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the president, as saying.

During a meeting with ministers on Thursday, the president also said Algerian television and radio, which are controlled by the state, should give airtime to all political parties.

He added that protest marches, banned under the state of emergency, would be permitted across the country of 35 million except in the capital.

His comments come as anti-government protests escalate in Egypt and follows a wave of similar uprisings in other Arab states including Tunisia and Yemen.

Opposition groups in Algeria had recently made the repeal of emergency powers one of their main demands, ahead of a protest planned for February 12.

Last month several hundred pro-democracy protesters took to the streets in Algiers, the capital, demanding the government overturn a law banning public gatherings.

It came after riots erupted over rising food costs and unemployment.MORE

Algeria and Libya extend soccer bans to thwart anti-government protests

Oil-rich Libya and gas-rich Algeria have indefinitely extended their suspension of all soccer matches with anti-government demonstrations planned for February 12 in Algiers and February 17 in Benghazi and Tripoli. The cancellations are intended to prevent the pitch from becoming a platform for protests.
The Algerian Football Federation further announced on Tuesday the cancellation of its friendly against Tunisia scheduled for February 5. Weeks of mass demonstrations last month toppled Tunisian President Zine Abedine Ben Ali.MORE

YEMEN

Yemen President's concessions fail: Thousands take to streets to demand he step down, but supporters stage counter rally





PALESTINE

Feb 1Palestinian government calls for local elections amid Egypt unrest:Palestinian Authority hasn't held elections since 2006, leaving President and parliament members in power after their elected terms ended.

The Western-backed Palestinian government in the West Bank said Tuesday it will hold local council elections as soon as possible - a surprise move reflecting fears that massive anti-government protests in Egypt could inspire unrest here, too.

The announcement was one of many responses among the region's Western-backed governments - many with questionable legitimacy and limited popular support - to reduce the chances their own people will rise up against them.

In neighboring Jordan, hereditary monarch King Abdullah II fired his government following street protests and ordered an ex-prime minister to launch immediate political reforms.

The Palestinian Authority has not held elections since 2006, leaving the president and members of parliament in office after their elected terms ended. MORE

Feb 4 Egypt unrest spurs Palestinian Authority to pledge elections

Spurred by the events in Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and its ruling Fatah party also promised to hold local elections, followed by general elections, very soon. Palestinian Minister of Local Government Khaled Qawasma made the announcement in midweek, adding that local elections would likely be held in May.

But Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, said it would refuse to take part in the elections unless a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation agreement is reached. Hamas officials said they do not trust the PA and Fatah to hold fair elections.


The PA’s announcement follows a prolonged legal and public campaign by the leftist democratic bloc to get elections called in the West Bank and Gaza. The struggle culminated in a petition by the bloc to the Palestinian High Court of Justice, which instructed the government in Ramallah on December 13, 2010 to set a date for elections immediately.

Thus every day the government fails to do so, it is violating the court order.MORE

EGYPT Well we all know how THATS going

ontd_political's Live post here. They are stepping up attacks on journalists and human rights activists.


Wikipedia Egypt Timeline

Al Jazeera'a Live Video seems to have gone down because the security forces were too close and too menacing and the journalists felt that their lives were in danger. ETA But the Live Stream is Up, Here's their blog with audio messages

Basically everyone is scared that Sulieman is going to pull a nasty crackdown tomorrow and wants as many foreign observers blocked as he can get.


Three questions: Good cop, bad cop; Al Jazeera's senior political analyst comments on the mass public revolt in Egypt

Three questions: Egypt's future, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst comments on the mass public revolt in Egypt


Feb 3 Mubarak tells CNN's Christine Amanpour that he's fed up and wants to go What's stopping him? Chaos would result. And there isn't chaos now?

Feb 2Egyptian Military Bans All Soccer Training


Egyptain Ultra tactics Evident in Battle for Tahir Square

While not certain of the precise identity of the protestors he was watching on video emerging from Egypt, soccer writer Davy Lane noted their degree of sophisticated organization and battle tactics.

“There were designated rock hurlers, specialists in turning over and torching vehicles for defensive purposes and a machine like quartermaster crew delivering projectiles like clockwork on a cardboard platters,” Lane observed from afar.

Much in the way that a municipality would organize services, protestors assigned tasks to various groups such as the collection of trash. They wore masking tape on which their role as for example medics or media contacts was identified in writing.

Street battle-hardened ultras meanwhile joined those patrolling the perimeters of the square and controlling entry. In a reflection of a trend towards greater religiosity evident in Egypt for years, entry to the square is separate for men and women.MORe

BELARUS

Interestingly, some Westerners, caught flatfooted by Tunisia's blowup, are suddenly more amenable to supporting protests for democracy in their own backyardsPoland keeps Belarus in the spotlight:Warsaw leads EU action against its neighbor's authoritarian ruler. (Poland has been doing this for a while. Its been trying to get allies together to help it undermine Lushenko. Its these allies that are being more amenable now.)

WARSAW, Poland — A basement meeting room was crowded with Belarusian opposition activists. They listened intently to the stories of people who had been beaten and jailed following President Alexander Lukashenko's crackdown after Belarus' Dec. 19 elections.

The catch?

The gathering was taking place not in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, but in Warsaw, in the buildings of the Polish parliament — a sign of the importance that Poland is placing on the struggle for democracy taking place in its eastern neighbor.

...

Warsaw is also organizing a donors conference Wednesday that will gather EU and U.S. officials to discuss ways of funding the Belarusian opposition. The meeting will come just after a Brussels summit looking at extending sanctions against key members of the Minsk regime by forbidding them from traveling to the EU and the United States and possibly by freezing their foreign assets — another area where Poland is pushing hard for a tough stance.

“We have to get the message to Belarus that this sort of behavior is simply unacceptable in the center of Europe in the 21st century,” said a western diplomat stationed in Warsaw, adding that following the revolution in Tunisia and unrest in Egypt it was vital for the West to make its position on human rights clear to Lukashenko, often dubbed Europe's last dictator.

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