SCAF: End of the revolutionary period

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) described,  on its official Facebook page, that  the first stage of the  presidential elections on Wednesday and Thursday was as victorious as the  October victory in 1973 against Israel. The council said: \"The great people of Egypt succeeded in crossing the greatest water obstacle in the world in 1973, which is the Suez Canal, and achieved a resounding victory which the whole world talked about for many years. Now, after nearly 40 years since the victory of October 1973 the Egyptian people, backed by the armed forces, is crossing a difficult obstacle similar to that of  October 1973, to a brighter future through democracy, freedom and hope”. The council added: \"It is our duty as the army of this great country, to help and support its people with all our strength. We exert our utmost efforts to secure the integrity and safety of this electoral process. We support the Egyptians to freely choose a president in order to achieve the goal for a better Egypt\". The Council noted, in its letter, that a lot of people were questioning the patriotism of the Egyptian armed forces, which has remained silent until the end to prove to this great people that they place high importance keen on security issues.  The letter added that many incidents proved that the Egyptian armed forces supported the revolution. The letter stated: “Egypt witnesses the end of one of the chapters of the revolutionary scene and the whole world will discover that the civilization of the Egyptian people is not in history books only, but it is also reflected in the revolution that inspires the entire world. The country will begin its first steps to restore the glories, watched by the world with infatuation and pride in order to learn how nations can achieve their dreams. Last but not least, we have promised and proved we are the people\'s army and that we are the shield that protects it against his enemies”. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has been subjected to widespread criticism over its handling of the transitional period, which began in February 2011, after the ousting of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The transition period has witnessed many events which shook the confidence between SCAF and the people, who respected the military for decades. The Cabinet confrontations in Cairo between protesters and the army in December of last year, the Maspero clashes between Copts and the military of that same month, and the events of Mohammed Mahmoud street between protesters and the military police in November of last year all made the Egyptian people wonder whether the Council would hand over power or not. However SCAF  has repeatedly stressed its determination to hand over power at the end of June 2012, after the current presidential elections end.