Photo by Asmaa Waguih/Reuters, 11/21/11, The Lede, New York Times.

I’ve had various friends ask why violence broke out in Egypt this weekend.  Here’s some context for those who want to know why Tahrir Square is back in the headlines.

Egyptians are incredibly angry at the ruling military junta–the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF)–who took power when Mubarak stepped down in February. Their anger stems from an as-yet unfulfilled desire to complete the Revolution for democracy that they began nearly 10 months ago.

The military has responded to this anger by letting Mubarak-era riot police and secret police out of their cages, allowing them to unleash an unprecedented amount of aggression on protestors. This violence has come less than 10 days before Egypt’s first post-Mubarak Parliamentary election is set to begin on November 28.

Some sources of protestors’ anger:

• Lack of oversight: Since taking power in February SCAF, led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, has significantly increased its own power without any real oversight.  It has accomplished this while maintaining the appearance–particularly to foreign governments–of fulfilling a need for stability and fostering national identity.
• Military trials of civilians: Mubarak style aggression and intimidation of Egyptians by state actors has continued.  According to Human Rights Watch, more than 12,000 civilians have been brought before military tribunals since January, which is more than throughout Mubarak’s 30-year rule.  This has amounted to a sense among Egyptians that the civil liberties and rights they fought for have not yet been achieved.
• SCAF has expanded Egypt’s hated Emergency Law instead of removing it, which was one of the main tenets of the revolution.
• In particular, SCAF has jailed influential activist blogger Alaa Abd El-Fattah on trumped-up charges, claiming that he helped instigate the violence that led to the death of 28 Coptic Christian protestors on October 9.

The Constitution:

• SCAF has pushed back the timetable for Presidential election to 2013, which they claim is in order to allow a constitution to be drafted first.  They also announced that they intend to maintain control of the government after the upcoming Parliamentary election until a President is elected.
• On November 1, SCAF announced a series of supra-constitutional measures, which included:

1. Military budget will not have to be transparent to the public
2. SCAF has veto power over whether the President can declare war.
3. SCAF has the authority to appoint 80 of the 100 members of the assembly that will draft the new constitution, while only the remaining 20 will be drawn from the newly elected Parliament.