The 18-day Facebook uprising in Egypt, which culminated in the 11 February ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, has been hailed as the triumph of the people over a despotic regime. However, Mubarak handed over the running of the Egyptian government to a supreme council of the armed forces headed by Field Marshal Tantawi, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister.

This military council is to arrange for the transfer of authority to a civilian government to be elected under a reformed constitution within a year. The cabinet of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, hastily formed by Mubarak before his departure, has resigned. So has the newly appointed vice-president Omar Suleiman, to whom Mubarak had earlier handed over some of his powers. The People's Assembly, whose election in 2010 had been challenged as fraudulent, has been dissolved and fresh elections would be called under the reformed constitution.

Unanswered Questions

The Egyptian Revolution in Tahrir Square may have succeeded in driving President Mubarak from office, but it has raised questions about the future direction of the country. Will the committee set up to reform the constitution include any representative of the youthful Friends of Facebook who led the uprising? Will new political parties be allowed, including the Muslim Brotherhood? Will there be a leadership role for the armed forces?

Foreign observers have assessed that the military has emerged as the real winner of the people's uprising in Egypt. Some Western observers fear that the alternative to military rule is an Islamic theocracy. Others suggest that Egypt could follow the Turkish model where the military stays in the background while an elected Islamic party runs the government along secular lines.