VIDEO: Egyptian military agrees to ‘sped up’ transition of power

In the face of growing violence and persistent protests, the Egyptian military has agreed to rapidly speed up the country’s transition from martial law to civilian rule, the BBC reported.

According to the BBC, the military rulers have agreed to move the presidential elections up to June 2012, much earlier than “sometime in 2013,” which was the pervious timeline. The military also announced that next week’s Parliamentary elections will go forward as scheduled.

Many Egyptians have grown weary of military rule and are afraid the military intends to remain in power indefinitely.

“Field Marshal Tantawi said that the military was only there to protect the people and did not seek permanent power,” the BBC reported.

According to The New York Times, the announcement came after a meeting between the military, leaders of the popular Muslim Brotherhood party, which is expected to win a majority of seats in Parliament next week, and other Islamist groups. Most other political parties boycotted the meeting.

In the deal reached among that group, a new constitution must also be in place by June of next year. The military also announced that it had accepted the resignation of the civilian cabinet, offered yesterday. They’ll be replaced with new civilian leadership including a “technocrat” prime minister.

But it was unclear if the accelerated timetable would be enough to assuage protesters, who have sought nothing short of the military withdrawing from power immediately.

“No one is going to accept another civilian government micromanaged” by the military commanders, Hossam Bahgat, executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said to The Times.

Violent protests between demonstrators and the military and police have now stretched into their fourth day. Many people have been wounded and 23 deaths have been reported as well, according to the Health Ministry.