People's power drives Mubarak from presidency in Egypt

Empowering Weak & Oppressed

Crescent International

Sha'ban 10, 1432 2011-02-12

Daily News Analysis

by Crescent International

Cairo-Crescent-online

February 12, 2011 - 0001 DST

After serving as the centre of protests for 18 days, Tahrir Square in Cairo became the place of thanks giving as hundreds of thousands of Egyptians offered their Fajr prayers on Saturday February 12. The announcement early the day before that Hosni Mubarak had resigned was greeted with outbursts of joy not in Cairo but throughout the country. Almost all major cities witnessed massive rallies of joy.

After serving as the centre of protests for 18 days, Tahrir Square in Cairo became the place of thanks giving as hundreds of thousands of Egyptians offered their Fajr prayers on Saturday February 12. The announcement early the day before that Hosni Mubarak had resigned was greeted with outbursts of joy not in Cairo but throughout the country. Almost all major cities witnessed massive rallies of joy.

Friday had started with people resigned for a continued struggle but also a steely determination to see it through until Mubarak was forced out of office. The military had also issued a statement saying it would restore order. Many observers feared a blood bath if the army carried out its threat

Millions of people--8 million in Cairo according to one estimate--poured out of mosques after Juma Salat and gathered in Tahrir Square. Then they started a march toward the state television station as well as the presidential palace. The road to the palace was blocked by tanks with their gun turrets trained at incoming protesters.

This was the moment that people feared would start the biggest blood bath in Egypt's history. It appears as if the tank commanders decided not to challenge the sea of humanity. Given the people's anger and determination, they would have offered as many lives as necessary but not surrender to such brute force to keep an illegitimate and aging dictator in power.

Then, all of a sudden, the tanks turned around and started to head toward the presidential palace. There was a huge sigh of relief among protesters who had snatched another victory.

There was even greater news awaiting them. A little later, Mubarak's vice president Omar Suleiman came on state television to announce that Mubarak had decided to step down as president and hand power over to the Military High Council.

The news was greeted with jubilation throughout the country. People could hardly believe that they had brought down the tyrant who only a day earlier had stubbornly refused to quit saying his departure would lead to chaos. His continued presence at the helm of affairs itself was the biggest source of instability and chaos.

There clearly appeared to be a split in the higher echelons of the military. The final showdown was forced by the refusal of younger officers, such as the ones commanding tanks on the road leading to the presidential palace, not to shoot at unarmed demonstrators. This forced the military to intervene with Mubarak asking him to leave. The army high command could clearly see that if Mubarak continued to cling to power, the army itself would split. There was also a danger that some colonel might stage a coup bypassing the high command.

Mubarak's departure hardly solves the problems of the people. There are many hurdles still to cross not the least of which is how the military is going to behave. Will it cling to power and not institute the promised reforms under which the people would be able to freely elect their own representatives or relent to people's wishes? There are other uncertainties as well.

Will a credible transitional government be formed that would establish a new constitution so that the rights of the people are safeguarded? With no clear and identifiable leadership of the people's movement present, the movement may split into different factions that could easily be exploited by vested interests.

The next few days will show which way the country is going. For now the people are too euphoric at their victory--a truly remarkable one because of what they have achieved--to think much about the future but htey must put their heads together to see what they want to do next. If they leave the political arena to the professional politicians, the movement would simply have got rid of a tyrant but no change in the regime.

This is the big challenge facing the people of Egypt. They are not out of the woods yet. Their struggle has a long way to go to put in place a system that would be truly responsive to the needs of the people.

One indication of how the US might react, the country that had backed the Egyptian tyrant for 30 years, was given by a statement from Washington on February 11 saying the next Egyptian government must respect the peace treaty with Israel. This speaks volumes for who rules in Washington.

It is not Obama or the Democratic Party; it is the zionist lobby otherwise why would Washington's primary concern be Egypt's peace treaty with Israel that has not been accepted by the Egyptian people despite its being thrust down their throats?

Despite the difficult days ahead, the people of Egypt deserve credit for bringing about a remarkable change in their country through determination and patience over a period of 18 days. This is also a tribute to the people of the Middle East who have brought down not one but two tyrants in less than one month.

Which tyrant will fall next is the big question on everyone's mind but one can already read the signs. Saudi king Abdullah chastised the US for abandoning an old and trusted ally. He can clearly sense his own throne wobbling.

END

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