Egypt protests

As of writing this editorial, protests are widening in various parts of Egypt that started on Jan 25 against President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power since 1981.  Increasingly, it appears that his days as president of Egypt are numbered as the protestors want nothing less than his resignation and the Western powers who lent their support to his regime all these years, including the US, too seem reluctant to do so now, given the widespread protests against him in cities like Cairo, Alexandria and Suez.  Instead of realizing the graveness of the situation and stepping down to make way for a peaceful transition of power, on Friday, as a way to placate the protestors, Mubarak sacked his cabinet and appointed his henchman Omar Suleiman, who some say is his successor, as vice president. Furthermore, despite the calls from the US to deal peacefully with the protestors, the regime is dealing with them in a harsh manner, and as it happens in revolutions, the harsher the regime, the more angry, violent and widespread the protests.



Protestors are right to demand an end to his rule as he failed to address the valid concerns and demands of the people for long. Although Mubarak showed that he understood the dynamics of international politics by becoming a US ally and by maintaining good relations with Israel, he did not understand the democratic aspirations of his people and the technological revolution that makes people join hands for common cause by using various social networking sites. As such, he relied too much on Western support, rather than the support of common Egyptians to his regime. It is safe to say that the current mood in the streets of Egypt is a reflection of poor governance and bad economic policies of the last 30 years.



If history is anything to go by, there is no regime that can continue its rule when people say “enough” to its rule. Chances are Mubarak too will have to bow down to the collective will of the Egyptian people. Now the time has come to contemplate the post-Mubarak Egypt. It is of course natural to be hopeful during the protests that the regime succeeding the current one will be more democratic and able to address the legitimate concerns of the people. There is, however, no guarantee that it would be the case as evident from the events unfolding in many neo-democracies around the world. The seriousness of the situation should not be underestimated and everyone who wishes to see a democratic Egypt should also be cautious of the segments with radical Islamic agenda trying to exploit the volatile situation to their advantage. Therefore, it is time for all stakeholders, including the international community, to make sure that the new government in Egypt will be democratic and liberal, not sectarian and draconian, and that a dictatorship will not be replaced by another dictatorship.

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