Give Egypt back to its people
The people of Egypt are claiming their country which had been so long outsourced. But they are also aware that display of overt nationalistic inclination is likely to meet with serious opposition from the US whose role in stifling democracy and the aspiration of the people outside its borders, in spite of its lip service to these, is well known. We know how Nasser was ruined and we know how Anwar Sadaat, and his protégée Hosni Mubarrak, were promoted, and we know how the Iranian parliamentary system was destroyed in 1953.
But Hosni Mubarrak is unwilling to budge. That is the problem with autocrats and dictators. They get to enjoy their job so much that nothing in the world can convince them that enough is enough, that it is time to go, not even the deaths of hundreds of their countrymen. And if such autocrats exist on the manna thrown in by some powerful countries, the benefits come with political support too, which may prove costly for the recipient in the long run, and beneficiary becomes a dispensable commodity to the benefactor.
On the other hand, if the recipient happens to be a guarantor of the patron's interest in the region, he arrogates to himself an aura of invincibility, which in realty is nothing more than a gloss, a largely misplaced and self-defeating condition of mind, which eventually crumbles in the face of popular demand, as we see happening in the Middle East, Egypt being the latest tile in the domino board about to collapse. But there are efforts to prop the regime up by dubious means.
The penchant for power is so energising that it moves even the most physical and mental decrepit to devise ploys to hold on to power. And of course there are always his backers who spare no efforts to make the deceptive tactics appear reasonable. We have in the situation obtaining in Egypt, and the shenanigans resorted to by Hosni Mubarrak, good examples of too much of fondness for one's job proving harmful for the person and his countrymen. According to the Egyptian president, he was pursuing a "career," and by all universal standards one would have called it a day after thirty years of disinvigorating occupation, nay career.
Luckily for Mubarrak there are many in Egypt, and outside, that have benefited form his rule, the upper class and the rich for example, some of who say, grudgingly, echoing the stand of the US, that his departure should be through a peaceful transition, while some abashedly root for him and his continued presence at the helm of Egyptian affairs. And of course there are the paid thugs who pose as loyalists and try to physically break the resolve of the anti-Mubarrak demonstrators. And all of these have happened in full view of the world, in spite of a ban on the media and assault on newsmen.
The "charge of the Hosni Brigade," for want of a better description, conducted by Mubarrak loyalists was in all probability designed to precipitate a bloody situation, designed to create an excuse for the army to step in. Having failed to disrupt and dissuade the demonstrators in Tahrir Square, or provoke them to react, the regime in Egypt is pursuing several other options. For example it has decided to increase government servants' remuneration, but it not likely to be an effective palliative. How many amongst the thousand of protestors are public servants? And one of the reasons for the current outburst is unemployment. One hears too the talks of revising the constitution, an idea that has come perhaps 30 years too late.
But there are some serious issues, that the current regime and its allies and indeed the international community must take note of. How valid is the argument of a power vacuum and the consequent uncertainty that might ensue were Mubarrak to leave power immediately? The question is whom shall the power devolve upon. It is not the question of Mubarrak alone but the greater issue of his regime that people want to see gone. Will departure of Mubarrak mean the end of his regime? And is ElBaradei a viable alternative, who, notwithstanding his democratic dispensation, many see as being without proper initiation of politics and realities of Egypt.
Then there is always the bogey of Muslim Brotherhood (MB) to delay handover. It is the only other politically organised group with a semblance of unity, and it was blamed for fomenting the present crisis, but apart from the fact that it does not have the support of the majority, many consider its agenda a suspect. But with every day that passes with Mubarrak in power, parties such as MB get the opportunity to increase their influence on the people.
And this is where the role of the US assumes importance. While the US position on Egypt is rubbished by the people because it is seen as being intended to manage the crisis rather than end it, ending the crisis should be what the US must seriously direct its diplomatic thrust at.
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