By snoadmin
Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak ended his 30-year reign in office on Feb. 11, in reluctant compliance with the 18-day revolt led by the country’s liberal youth. Now, as the country erupts with cries of jubilation, and protesters gaze proudly beyond the dirtied streets littered with their weeks-old tents, questions regarding the future of Egypt’s new regime loom close behind this long-awaited celebration.
Vice President Omar Suleiman announced his decision to turn over all power to the country’s military on Friday, and after shattering political stasis once and for all, Mubarak fled quickly without comment to his home in Sharm el Sheik, located by the Red Sea.
This much is clear: He feared persecution and he relinquished the office of presidency to save his own ass. And though he should have been confronted long before three decades into his reign, it was the hundreds of thousands of tireless protesters who made their leader face his own cowardice.
Just as it became the role of the citizens to confront their ruthless dictator, it is now the responsibility of the Egyptian people to reproduce that same level of intensity and persistence to secure a democratic system for a nation.
As the military waits at a standstill, promising to relinquish power once elections have been set and proper order has been restored, Egyptians look past decades of failing autocracy and onwards to freedom. The worst is past us, right? Not quite.
The Egyptian military has set a deadline for elections and reforms. But if the deadline passes, the country is sure to be in another upheaval. In the meantime — as with any society — people must return to work. Further success can never be met if the economy is failing. What’s democracy worth to an economy in crisis?
Only hours before fleeing, the Egyptian president had also delivered a speech blatantly contrary to the interests of a majority of his people and the suggestions of the world’s leading figures. Who’s to say those closest to attaining power won’t act the same? For the last three decades, Egypt’s government has become accustomed to turning a deaf ear to its crying citizens. We suspect it will take many more months — if not years — of continual protest until democracy is securely in place.
Only a day before his official resignation, Mubarak claimed he would only delegate authority to Suleiman while Mubarak himself would remain in a foremost position of power. Hours before the end, he still acted in opposition of an entire nation, his nation.
In a tone so contradictory to what his people pleaded for, it is no surprise that it will continue to take hundreds of thousands flooding the capital to see any change.
It was the people’s organized protest that made this change possible. They are now responsible for not only keeping the economy afloat, but rebuilding their government as well.
A key factor for Egypt’s success, besides the people’s persistence, was also their peace and cooperation. Little worth rests in thousands shouting a mess of meaningless obscenities, and the protestors in Cairo were quick to realize this.
The protest was bothered neither by the security police nor the uniformed Mubarak loyalists. The uprising — hailed as a largely secular, nonviolent movement — brought Egypt’s liberal and Islamist opposition groups together for the first time under its banner. There was no time for interference. And with enough people to collectively outshout an entire regime from the capital’s central of Tahrir Square, the prospect of freedom through democracy finally seems within reach.
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