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Mubarak Steps Down
After 18 days of protests that spilled out from Cairo’s Tahrir Square, President Hosni Mubarak hands power to military’s ruling body, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Mubarak’s former prime minister, Ahmed Shafik, is tapped to lead the cabinet. The constitution is suspended and the parliament disbanded. -
Protesters Arrested
The army and military police clear out Tahrir Square, rounding up liberal activists and taking them to the famed Egyptian Museum, where they torture them. Ramy Essam, a young singer who wrote protest songs in Tahrir Square and was later arrested by the security forces, said he was beaten with wooden sticks and iron bars, and tortured with electrical shocks. Around 150 men and women protesters are ultimately tried and convicted in military courts, and sent to military prisons. -
Muslim Brotherhood Sweeps Elections
Egypt begins to vote in parliamentary elections, a six-week process that results in an overwhelming victory for Islamist parties. In the lower house, the Muslim Brotherhood wins the majority of seats, with the ultraconservative Salafis taking another quarter, putting religious groups in control of the parliament. In the upper house, Islamists take nearly 90 percent of the seats. -
Military Grabs More Power
The day before the presidential runoff election, the military, acting on a ruling by the Supreme Court, shuts down the parliament. It also awards itself sweeping new powers, including control over the national budget and the power to issue laws — effectively diluting the power of the president, which by this time appears likely to be Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, whom the military opposes. A day later, Morsi wins the election. -
Morsi Sworn In As President
Morsi, the first Islamist to be elected as head of state, is also the first civilian leader in Egypt. He promises to be a president to “all Egyptians” and yanks open his suit jacket to show the cheering crowd that he is not wearing body armor — underscoring that he is not afraid. But the military’s power grab weeks earlier sets up a bitter power struggle between the Muslim Brotherhood and the secular military. -
Morsi Grants Himself More Power
Morsi issues a decree allowing him to take any and all actions that he deems necessary to protect the country. The move sparks days of protests. -
Egypts extend state of emergency
The president’s office says that the security situation in the country warrants a two-month extension of the state of emergency, which grants security forces extra powers. The country had been under a state of emergency for nearly three decades under Mubarak. It was one of the first rules lifted by the military in 2011 to begin the transition to democracy.
