Egyptian Army to Ban Protests

The provisional military government is attempting to get Egyptians off the streets and back to work.

Show’s over folks. That’s the message from the Egyptian military, which has ordered protesters to leave Cairo’s Tahrir Square and is reportedly planning to ban all strikes and demonstrations in a bid to restore normalcy to the country. Egyptian people now have a taste for populist power and after decades of privation, policemen, ambulance drivers, television employees, and factory workers have already begun advocating for pay increases. The Egyptian economy was crippled by the 18-day uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak and the caretaker military government is desperate to get people back to work, but the protest ban is a worrying sign for pro-democracy advocates skeptical of the army’s commitment to returning the country to civilian rule after elections scheduled for September.