Egypt’s interim government offered resignation late on Monday as several political forces called for a mass rally on Tuesday.

PM Essam Shraf

Egypt’s interim government offered resignation late on Monday as several political forces called for a mass rally on Tuesday.

"The government of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf has handed its resignation to the [ruling] Supreme Council of the Armed Forces," cabinet spokesman, Mohammed Hegazy, said in a statement aired on Monday night by the official MENA news agency.
"Owing to the difficult circumstances the country is going through, the government will continue working" until the resignation is accepted, Hegazy added.

Meanwhile, Egyptian political forces behind the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's former president,  called for a mass rally on Tuesday to demand the army cede power to a civilian government.
 The Coalition of Revolution Youth and the April 6 movement, among others, called for the protest at 4:00pm local time (14:00 GMT) on Tuesday in Tahrir Square.

Egypt's health ministry said at least 33 people had been killed and 1,500 wounded in clashes between government forces and protesters since Saturday, raising concerns over parliamentary elections due to begin later this month.

As the death toll rose on Monday, the military council tried to distance itself from the violence, reiterating commitment to its "road map" for transition and expressing "sorrow" over the situation.
In a statement, the military council appealed for calm and asked the country's justice ministry to investigate the violence, the worst since Mubarak was toppled in February.

The council also invited "all the political and national forces for an emergency dialogue to look into the reasons behind the aggravation of the current crisis and ways to resolve it as quickly as possible".

Egyptians are scheduled to elect a new parliament in a staggered vote starting on November 28. Yet, even when the assembly is picked, executive powers would remain with the army until a presidential election, which may not happen until late 2012 or early 2013.

Protesters want a much swifter transition with presidential elections by April 2012.
"We are all insisting on having the election on time; the government, parties and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces," Hegazy, the cabinet spokesman, said.