Protests for reform in Egypt have drawn only a few hundred people at a time but they affirmed the right to demonstrate in a country where the authorities have severely curbed political rights, activists and analysts say. The protests, spearheaded by the 'Enough Movement', have also broken down a fear of criticising President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt since 1981 and is expected to seek a fifth six-year term in elections this year. "We succeeded in beating the culture of fear and we have won the right to demonstrate," said George Ishak of the movement, which wants reform to make it harder for incumbents to stay in power and the lifting of emergency laws in place since 1981. The authorities have been unusually tolerant of a series of protests by the movement since December, but last week banned it from protesting outside parliament. A demonstration called by the banned but tolerated Muslim Brotherhood was also blocked. But the frequency of the protests has raised the profile of opposition objections to an extension of Mubarak's rule or a transfer of power to his son, Gamal. "The need for change is so widely publicised that even though it's not a party -- it's a mood, a movement -- it has managed to put on the agenda our right to see serious change," said political analyst Mohamed Al Sayed Said. The demonstrations have directed unusual criticism at Mubarak, whom the dominant state media portray as a wise and benevolent leader. "Challenging the presidency in the open has broken another taboo," Said told Reuters.