On 18 and 19 November four years ago, hundreds of protesters demonstrated against the controversial constitutional principles of the El-Selmy document, which gave the military excessive powers over elected members of parliament and the constituent assembly responsible for drafting the new constitution.
At the time, several political entities gave the ruling military council warning before holding mass protests.
“Down with Tantawi”, hundreds of demonstrators chanted in Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square, referring to the post-Mubarak military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, as they threw rocks and other objects towards armed police forces. The sit-in was joined by some of the tens of thousands of protesters who feared the return of Mubarak’s now-dissolved National Democratic Party.
As the country was getting ready for the first parliamentary elections, the protests were confronted and protesters were involved in deadly clashes with Central Security Forces (CSF), resulting in more than 1000 wounded, and tens killed.
Men on motorcycles and passers-by acted as medics and carried tens of bodies in and out the field hospital. Protesters reported that riot police fired at protesters from close range, leading to many losing their eyes.
The clashes continued for days, where causalities increased, and the public opinion was occupied by the elections.
