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The uprising in Egypt continues for the 16th consecutive day since the nation wide “day of revolution” was declared on January 25th. It seems momentum is only building. Protests have spread to include labor strikes, walk-outs, and demonstrations. It is being reported that in Suez 2,000 textile workers held a demonstration and an estimated 6,000 fire service workers staged a sit-in. The New York Times reports that 5,000 unemployed students in Quesna “stormed a government building.” Yesterday, for the first time, pro-democracy supporters marched on the Egyptian Parliament and are now camping out in front. Tahrir Square in Cairo remains the epicenter one week after journalists and pro-democracy protesters were violently attacked by supporters of the current regime. Human Rights Watch estimates that 300 people have been killed in protest-related violence since January 28th. A new wave of participants joined the action in Tahrir yesterday, galvanized by the release of a leading figure, Wael Ghonim. Ghonim was held by state security forces for nearly two weeks, and he told the story of his detention in an interview on Monday that was broadcast throughout Egypt. Before the detention Ghonim, a young Google executive, had been maintaining a Facebook page and You Tube channel that were central to spreading information about the protests. Speaking to those gathered in Tahrir yesterday he responded to the conciliatory tone of President Hosni Mubarak in recent days, saying, “We will not abandon our demand, and that is the departure of the regime.” However Mubarak has refused to leave before elections in November. In recent days Vice-President Omar Suleiman has been acting as a mediator between Mubarak and the opposition groups, and it seems he is being primed as the President’s successor. But Suleiman is not an acceptable alternative for many Egyptians, especially young, secular activists such as those of the April 6th coalition. Suleiman, dubbed by some as Egypt’s Torturer-in-Chief, has been criticized in recent days for making anti-democratic statements, such as suggesting Egypt was not ready for Democracy.

GUEST: Jason Brownlee, Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and a Professor of Government at the University of Texas, Austin, author of Authoritarianism in an Age of Democratization