Tahrir Square a tourist destination?

Tourism experts are calling to make Tahrir Square a tourist destination as a memorial to the 18-day protests staged in the square which resulted in the toppling of former President Hosni Mubarak's regime. While we applaud the idea, isn't this just a little premature?

Hisham Zaazou, assistant to the Tourism Minister, said squares worldwide, especially in European countries, have become tourist destinations due to their significance in history. Tahrir Square has become a symbol of a popular revolution, he said. There should be a memorial or an obelisk with photos of the 25 January revolution and a list of martyrs’ names in the square, added Zaazou, who anticipates that tourists will be interested in visiting.

Tourism expert Amr Badr suggested creating a mural in Tahrir Square about the revolution, and making the square part of tour programs.

Abdel Rahman Samir, member of the 25 January coalition, said artists, the ministries of culture and tourism, and governorate officials should coordinate efforts.

Protesters have already created an impromptu memorial in the square that includes photos and information about those who died during the protests.

However, with the departure of President Hosni Mubarak, only the first stage of Egypt's transformation will have been achieved. What follows could merely be a reorganization of the existing system without fundamental progress towards change. The next steps from the opposition are crucial and will essentially decide the direction of the revolution.

The army still holds all the cards, and it is one of their own, General Omar Suleiman, who has already assumed the interim presidency in all but name. As head of the General Intelligence Service since 1993 and a strong supporter of Egypt's pro-western stance, he has warily been accepted by the US as an acceptable face of the transition. But a genuine political and economic transition is clearly what the US now wants, and as the main sponsor of Egypt's military budget, is likely to have been exerting pressure on the army high command from behind the scenes.

Now that the military has publicly stated that it supports the 'legitimate demands of the people', the risk is that the speed of change may be blocked by satisfying the demands of the obvious losers in their midst. If a civilian political establishment is really going to take the place of the army in coming months, the senior military establishment will have to forego some of their considerable financial and material benefits.

The army may well have won plaudits for its restraint until now. If a continuation of military control with an acceptable civilian face is the outcome of the current turmoil, the world will continue to see protests re-emerging, as the reality sinks in that the fundamentals of state power have not changed.

We earnestly hope that a transition to a democratic state occurs peacefully and with open and transparent elections including all parties, including the National Democratic Party.

Then we can start thinking about building monuments, let's just wait a little while shall we?