20100922
africanews

Hundreds of Egyptians gathered in central Cairo on Tuesday, amid tight security, to protest against the rumours that the North African nation President, Hosni Mubarak's son Gamal will succeed him. The protesters gathered near the president's official residence shouting the names of Mubarak's two sons.

"We don't want a hereditary government" and "No, no to succession. No to Mubarak, no to Gamal, no to Alaa," the protesters shouted wielding placards.

Several thousand police were deployed to contain the protest, which brought together supporters of Egypt's Kefaya opposition movement, leftists and members of other opposition parties beating a handful of demonstrators with batons according to Reuters report.

The protest was held by April 6 Youth Movement, Kefaya (Enough) and other groups to commemorate the death in 1911 of Ahmed Orabi, an Egyptian nationalist and military officer who led a revolt against Egypt's ruler Khedive Tawfiq.

"We here repeat the slogan 'We will not be inherited as of today' which leader Orabi said to the Khedive and the European powers," said Mohamed Ehsan Abdel Kodous of Egypt's main opposition group the Muslim Brotherhood.

Wafaa Hanafy Sehab, a lawyer and political activist, who was at the protest, said it was the first of a series of protests calling for Egyptians not to vote.

"We are for boycotting elections because they are a sham," she said.
The banned Muslim Brotherhood, the country's main opposition group, was not present during the protest march.

Egypt is due to hold parliamentary elections in November, followed by a presidential election next year.

Mubarak, in power since 1981, has not yet declared whether he will run for a fifth six-year term, but is generally believed the 82-year old is grooming his son Gamal for succession.

Analysts say the opposition has yet to show it can rally mass protests in a country of 78 million to force change on a government that has huge security forces at hand. But protests are drawing unwelcome international attention, they have said.

Some key opposition figures are calling for a boycott of the legislative polls due to the failure of the regime to meet demands for political reforms.