HOSIN MUBARAK AND THE TURNING POINT IN EGYPTIAN POLITICS

By: Qeko
29/1/11

The sacrificial death of Mohammed Bouazizi which gave birth to the Tunisian Revolution continues to spread in the entire Arab world. In Tunisia it led to the unceremoniously departure of President Ben Ali fled to Saud Arabia for refuge while in Egypt this is causing serious political change where throughout the streets of major Egyptians town, people are demonstrating and calling for an end to the Mubarak long decade rule. In the streets of Cairo and Alexandria, protestors burns key government buildings and fought with the police. Television pictures shows that Egyptians were prepared for this Revolution and they are ready and determined to fight the Mubarak regime until he is leaves office.

And speaking on the Egyptian Television in response to the demonstration, Egpytian President Mubarak showed no sign of giving up power and he is far from leaving the country into exile. President Mubarak is not intending to leave Egypt as Ben Ali did but that he will stay in the country and face the protestors head-on. In responding to the protest and meeting what he feels are their demands, Mubarak is planning has asked his government to resign and he is forming a new cabinet. Now the question is does Mubarak read the signs of his times on his political wall? Will he say in power in the midst of such a huge and massive demonstration and allow innocent blood to be shed in Egypt? What kind of solution do we need to solve the Egyptians problem?
To begin with, we need to say that this wind of regime change blowing across the Arab world seem not to spare any nation. When the very wind of revolution was hitting Tunisia, Egyptians authorities seemed to have undermined it and never thought that it was to invade their country in a big way as it has done.

Now it seems to some of us that Mubarak is missing the point in the direction he has taken. The Egyptian population are calling for him to resign and leave office and he is busy asking cabinet ministers to resign their office so that he can appoint new ones into office. Mubakarak need to see and read in a very clear language that the electorate who voted him into office this time around are using a shortcut and asking him to resign because they are not satisfied with the way he has so far governed the country. These only message one can read from these huge mass demonstration is that Mubarak’s regime has become unpopular and that the people are calling for him to leave office something which Mubarak fails to see at the moment. From Mubaraks action of failing to read the writing on his political wall, we get our first lesson that in politics politicians need to be able to read carefully the writings on their political wall and properly translate them. The failure to read and interpret what is written on their political wall will like Mubarak, make them clings to power against the wishes of the people something which if not properly handled, could lead to more bloodshed and created political madness.

President Mubarak said on the Egyptian Television that he is forming a new cabinet to respond and satisfy the demands of the protestors. Again Mubarak has missed the point. Egyptians are not demonstration because they want him to change cabinet or form a new one. Egyptians are demonstrating because they are sick and tired of his autocratic and undemocratic rule where some key opposition leaders are not given fair platform for them to properly play this political game. The people want him to leave office peacefully and give way to a new leadership that will properly respond to their demands. They are particularly asking that Mubarak should go meaning that there has to be a new administration excluding himself. So our second lesson is that political leaders need to be able to properly hear the voice of the people who voted them into office. The regime change revolution that is sweeping across the Arabs states is showing us that power belongs to the people. Now politicians need to make sure that they satisfy the demands of those who voted them into office.

As the Egyptian revolution continues to unfold, we have noted something unique in the way the protestors are being treated by both the army and the police. The police tear gassed and bit the people while the army are seen on Television being warmly welcomed by the people in the streets of Cairo. It seems there is a good relationship between the army and the people unlike the police. It also seems that the people basically don’t like the police and may be because of the way the police have behaved against the people throughout the many decades of the Mubarak reign. People don’t just resent the police without a reason but that there are enough factors that have led the population of Egypt to resent the police and the Mubarak reign. At the same time, the army are warmly welcome because they are looked upon as peaceful and their instrument of hope in times of trouble. We are yet to see if the Egyptian police will join the protestors like what the Tunisians police later did. The challenge the police are facing in this revolution is that they are forced to tear gas and bit their own brothers who are protesting in the streets and no wonder the Tunisian police made a U-turn and joined their brothers and sisters in the demonstration. Now from this scenario, we have our third lesson that there is always time in life that people will resent us because of the way we treat them in one way or the other. If we treat people badly our actions we then should know that the same measure we used on others will one day be used on us. What we mean is that if we are the instrument of pain in people’s lives today then some day some how before we die, we shall see the results of the seed we planted. The Egyptian police in as much as they are ordinary citizens of the land, they should be having difficulties to properly live with the people they have mistreated during the entire reign of Mubarak.

A critical look at the mass demonstration in Egypt shows that the US’s interest is the main reason why Mubarak is defiant and not ready to leave office. The US to a large extent depends on Mubarak for them to achieve their Middle East agenda and as the way the political events are unfolding, this whole episode is giving the US a troubled moment. Against all odds, many expected the US to support the mass demonstration but instead there is no clear message from White House in support of the will of the people. The US is very careful on how to handle this because they know that Mubarak is at the centre of their Middle East agenda. Many expected the US to ask Mubarak to go but surprisingly, the US is asking Mubarak to come up with reforms. The US is missing the link here because the will of the Egyptians’ is not for Mubarak to come up with reforms but that he should go and leave office. The US should know that the will of the people as of now is for Mubarak to resign. The US should give more support to the demonstrators because if they fail to do this, history will judge them as being a nation that supported a autocratic regime. Of course it is allegedly argued by many that the US is the main reason why Mubarak stayed in power this long. The US used Mubarak to have their Middle East policy properly executed.