Following a meeting of the Crisis Management group of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, and a later meeting between Sharaf and the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), a government spokesman announced that Sharaf had submitted his government's resignation to SCAF on Monday evening.
The government spokesman, Mohamed Hegazi, said that "in appreciation of the critical situation in which the country is passing through, the government will continue to perform its duties until such a time as the SCAF decides upon the resignation."
He added that the government calls upon the people to exercise restraint in order "to restore order to the country and to enable it to take the first step towards democracy by concluding parliamentary elections."
As soon as news of the resignation reached the Tahrir protesters, whose numbers had swelled to close to 100,000, the square erupted in massive cheers, whistles and applause. Immediately, however, the demonstrators declared that the government's resignation fell well short of their demands, taking up the chant: "The people want the overthrow of the Field Marshal" in reference to Field Marshal Mohamed Tantway, the head of SCAF and minister of defence.
Though there has been no announcement as to whether SCAF has accepted the government's resignation or not, there is credible information that it has in fact been accepted.
Prime Minister Essam Sharaf (Photo: Reuters)
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