Cairo - Egypt's new military rulers have signalled their intent to share power with civilians and amend the constitution rapidly by popular referendum, opposition activists and a British minister said on Monday.
Wael Ghonim, a Google executive detained, then released, for his part in the uprising that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak, said members of the military council had told him a plebiscite would be held on constitutional amendments in two months.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik had let him know that he would reshuffle his cabinet in the coming week to bring opposition figures into the line-up appointed by Mubarak last month.
Earlier, the ruling Higher Military Council urged workers to return to their jobs and help restart an economy damaged by the uprising, which ended Mubarak's 30-year autocratic rule but also sparked a growing wave of strikes.
In a televised address three days after Mubarak was forced to step down and hand power to the armed forces, a military spokesperson appealed for national unity.
In “Communique No. 5” read out on state television, the spokesperson said: “Noble Egyptians see that these strikes, at this delicate time, lead to negative results.” It added that work stoppages were harming security and economic production.
The council now governing the Arab world's most populous nation called on “citizens and professional unions and the labour unions to play their role fully”.
Egypt's generals, who played an important role in the anti-Mubarak revolt by refraining from crushing protests, are trying to return life to normal.
Political analysts questioned how long it would take to amend the constitution, stage a referendum and then hold elections to the legislature and executive.
The comments by Ghonim and Hague indicated a willingness to move swiftly, though sceptics will want to see real action. Hague also said Britain had received a request from Egypt to freeze the assets of the 82-year-old Mubarak.
Pro-democracy leaders say Egyptians will demonstrate again if their demands for radical change are not met. They plan a big “Victory March” on Friday to celebrate the revolution - and perhaps to remind the military of the power of the street.
Using their new-found freedom of expression and protest, angry employees on Monday rallied in Cairo and other cities to complain about low pay and poor working conditions.
Protests, sit-ins and strikes have occurred at state-owned institutions across Egypt, including the stock exchange, textile and steel firms, media organisations, the postal service, railways, the Culture Ministry and the Health Ministry.
Workers cite a series of grievances. What unites them is a new sense of being able to speak out in the post-Mubarak era.
Hundreds of employees demonstrated outside a branch of the Bank of Alexandria in central Cairo on Monday, urging their bosses to “leave, leave!” in an echo of an anti-Mubarak slogan.
At least 500 people staged a wage protest outside the state television building.
The military cleared the last few dozen protesters from Cairo's Tahrir Square, nerve centre of anti-Mubarak protests.
But shortly after that, hundreds of police officers marched through to demonstrate solidarity with pro-democracy activists and again stopped traffic flowing through the city centre.
In a sign of nervousness, Egypt's stock exchange, closed since January 27 because of the turmoil, said it would remain shut until stability returned to the economy, an official said.
The military rulers called a bank holiday on Monday after disruption in the banking sector. Tuesday will be a national holiday to mark the Prophet Mohammed's birthday.
In a communique on Sunday, the military suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament, moves welcomed by those who saw both as tailored to reinforcing Mubarak's iron rule.
Egyptians generally respect the 470 000-strong military, which receives about $1.3-billion annually in US aid and was shielded from public criticism or scrutiny in the Mubarak era. But some in the opposition still mistrust its intentions.
The top US military officer voiced admiration on Monday for the way Egypt's army had peacefully handled the power shift.
“I think they have handled this situation exceptionally well... It's been done peacefully, and we have every expectation that that will continue,” Admiral Mike Mullen said. - Reuters