Analysis: Finance Minister's Resignation Necessary for Egypt's Future

Upset over Sunday's events, which left 25 dead, nearly 300 injured and Egyptian's confidence shaken, el-Beblawi said he must leave his post because "the government and the Cabinet failed to take action and respond responsibly to the events of Maspero,” the area where the riot happened.

"Despite the fact that there might not be direct responsibility on the government's part, the responsibility lies, ultimately, on its shoulders," state news agency MENA quoted Beblawi as saying. "The current circumstances are very difficult and require a new and different way of thinking and working."

But Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawy, the current leader of the military tribunal running Egypt, rejected El-Beblawi's resignation, according to The Daily News Egypt.

Egypt is still trying to define itself in the wake of the January-February protests that toppled the old Mubarak regime. The military, which protected Egyptians from government thugs during the Tahrir uprising, is currently running the country. Much of its populist sympathies have disappeared.

"The feeling of helplessness on the streets that I had witnessed a short time before had been replaced with an aggressive sense of self-entitlement," said Stratfor's Reva Bhalla. "Scores of political groupings, spread across a wide spectrum of ideologies with wildly different agendas, are desperately clinging to an expectation that elections, scheduled to begin in November, will compensate them for their sacrifices."

On Sunday, Coptic Christians marching through Cairo were attacked by both plainclothes thugs and military personnel, who used armored troop carriers as battering rams. The violence outraged many in the capital, some of whom fought back, pounding military vehicles with rocks, sticks and firebombs. Video and eyewitness accounts indicate that the violence was first started by the army.

About 25 people were killed and nearly 300 injured. The funerals for the 20 Coptic Christians killed during the protest were held on Monday.

"Coptic blood in Egypt is cheap and the military council knows they can get away with killing us because we're a minority," Fakhri Girgis Fakhri, a mourner at the funeral presided over by Coptic Pope Shenouda III, told The Los Angeles Times. "When a Muslim protester gets killed, the whole country gets on its feet, but when Copts are killed, nothing happens."

The Egyptian government has opened an investigation of the incident, but initial reports from various ministries and state-run television indicate that the military would rather blame mysterious outside agitators than take responsibility for the deaths.

Sadly, it seems that the current government is employing the same tactics that Mubarak did ten months ago. According to reports, men with clubs and swords starting attacking protestors, much like the plainclothes secret police operatives who were eventually stopped by the army in February did.

El-Beblawi, it appears, would like to distance himself from the issue. It is a positive sign that powerful people within Egypt's administration are willing to be held accountable. If more people in the government acted like el-Beblawi, Egypt's next government would be ready to tackle the challenges of democracy.

But, if Egypt's current leadership continues to pass the buck, it is going to be a long time until the country can heal.