It seems too good to hope for. An Egyptian army commander shows up in Liberation Square and tells demonstrators that, "everything you want will be realized." Word is getting around that Hosni Mubarak may actually resign the presidency today. The army proclaims, " Based on the responsibility of the armed forces and its commitment to protect the people and its keenness to protect the nation... and in support of the legitimate demands of the people [the army] will continue meeting on a continuous basis to examine measures to be taken to protect the nation and its gains and the ambitions of the great Egyptian people."
So far, so good - so far. But, so far, it's all talk and, for the demonstrators, it's still a long hike from pillar to post. There are endless challenges ahead including what to do with the ruling, National Democratic Party. In Tunisia it didn't take long to realize the way forward meant that the institutional ruling party had to be dissolved. That may be doubly true for Mubarak's NDP. That's where the generals in uniform hold court, where military leadership assumes civilian power. How can there be any way forward until the political franchise is pried from the fingers of retired generals?
The president, the vice-president, the defence minister, the security minister, other cabinet members - they're all generals with a well-honed appetite for power. Their history, their nature makes them incompatible to any possible transition to democracy.
So far it's all talk, talk and rumour. None of it has been confirmed by the government. In fact the information minister stating, " The president is still in power and he is not stepping down."
If Mubarak doesn't resign, tomorrow, the Muslim holy day, could be extremely interesting. The demonstrators have called for 10-million Egyptians to take to the streets and join them.
2 comments:
It is the military in Egypt who is announcing his departure. Many news agencies are reporting that it is a coup and Mubarak is done.
This doesn't sound anything like a coup, LD. A coup is the overthrow of an entire government. That, incidentally, is exactly what Egypt needs. That does not appear to be what the military has in mind.
As I said, the military has been running Egypt since 1952. Merely plugging out one ex-general and plugging in another ex-general in his place is a continuation of that power structure which really doesn't advance the demonstrators' hopes for democratic reform.
The Tunisians had to clear this same hurdle and did it in the only way that worked - they had the executive resign and committed to dissolve the ruling party in advance of elections. It's hard to see anything short of that working in Egypt.
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