Hosni Mubarak s decision to replace his cabinet and appoint a vice-president (Omar Suleiman, 74, head of army intelligence), something he had refused to do since he became president in 1981, had no effect on the hundreds of thousands of Egyptian demonstrators who want him to relinquish all power. His vague calls for dialogue with the opposition, and for economic and social reforms, were also ineffectual. The tension on Egypt s streets did not abate.