(VOVworld) On Saturday, the first anniversary of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s downfall, Egyptians took to the streets in a Day of Civil Disobedience to demand that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces hand over power to a civilian government. For many Egyptians, the country has not enough democratic changes in the past year and the Arab Spring is not yet over.

A demonstration in Cairo's Tahrir square on February 10th 2012. Photo: AFP

On February 11^th last year, after 18 days of protests nationwide, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was forced to resign ending more than 30 years in power. Since then the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has taken control of the country. But the new regime has not begun. Though a parliamentary election was held, radical politicians and activists are not satisfied yet. A presidential election is scheduled for June and the press enjoys more freedom, but the Supreme Council composed of 20 generals still controls the government and the public is concerned about the army trying to retain its power. Though President Mubarak was put on trial for suppressing protesters, demonstrators are now cracked down by new security forces. The Islamic camp won a big victory in the parliamentary election, while the key forces of the uprising- students, youths and leftists are losing influence in the post Mubarak period. The excitement of winning the uprising has given way to bitterness over the failure to see a new civilian government and violence is taking place every day. Such disappointment fueled the tragedy in the Port Said Stadium this month which killed 74 people and injured more than 1,000. Clashes between police and protestors have spread throughout Egypt. Many protesters are fans of football clubs in Cairo, who played a key role in the uprising a year ago. The Supreme Council said the violence at the football stadium was engineered by hostile forces attempting to sabotage the country, but the Egyptian press and public think differently. The Al Shorouq newspaper commented that the Feb 1^st football match wasn’t a match between 2 teams but a political fight against revolution”. The Al Tahrir newspaper wrote that Egyptians demand that the Supreme Council resign for failing to ensure security. Many other journalists accused the military leaders of causing chaos in an attempt to maintain their power. The political instability has resulted in Standard & Poor’s downgrading Egypt’s credit rating from B+ to B. According to S&P, Egypt’s foreign currency reserves have fallen from 36 billion to 16 billion USD over the past year due to reduced tourism revenues and foreign investment.

The Egyptians still marching in the streets are disappointed with the current political developments and worried about Egypt’s future.

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