Revolt/Revolution in Egypt

[Fisherking]

afaik, in Egypt, what is happening is not about the MB or Islamism. It's all about getting rid of Mubarrak.

Western media are hugely over inflating the importance of the MB and Egyptian public desire for an Islamic state.

I have noticed that too.

While membership of the MB is estimated at about 18% it is not about to overcome everyone else in a popular uprising.

It just attracts attention. A little Fear Mongering to sell the story?!

[al Roumi]

I have noticed that too.

While membership of the MB is estimated at about 18% it is not about to overcome everyone else in a popular uprising.

It just attracts attention. A little Fear Mongering to sell the story?!

Undoubtedly , and I'm afraid I get irked by the focus on the marginal risk of even a whif of islamist government.

This should be a beautifull moment for democracy, not a scaremongerers love-in. The west should do its utmost to aid the Egyptian people to move towards true democratic rule. That does require us to be grown up and accept that they might well select a government that has Egypts best interests closest to its heart...

[Fragony]

Looks like he's throwing in the towel and heading to our German neighbours. I kinda feel sorry for him, he certainly isn't the worst of the worst. Glad for the Egyptians anyway if it's true.

[Husar]

Where did you get that from?
I just heard in the news that he wants to form a group that should bring about reforms, rework the constitution and make it easier to run for president, no word of him stepping down.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Looks like he's throwing in the towel and heading to our German neighbours. I kinda feel sorry for him, he certainly isn't the worst of the worst. .

Sorry for Mubarak?


The guy is (possibly / maybe) going to flee to Germany. Then he's going to do what all the others before him have done: drive to Switzerland and collect his haul. In his Mubarak's case, estimated at a staggering seventy billion dollar. He's got a few decades left to spend that in Switzerland, Monaco, Paris. Real estate prices always increase in Paris when dictators are ousted in Africa. They tend to bring large families and lots of trustees in need of luxury homes.

An Egyptian biographer and an American professor claim that the Mubarak family is worth from $40 to $70 billion, according to ABC News. Experts say the wealth of the Mubarak family was built largely from military contracts during his days as an air force officer. He eventually diversified his investments through his family when he became president in 1981. The family's net worth ranges from $40 billion to $70 billion, by some estimates.

$70 billion would put Mubarak somewhere between Carlos Slim and Warren Buffett in terms of wealth. Is this realistic? It could be when you consider that he spent thirty years as the ruler of a large country and American ally.
Mubarak's family is said to own properties in London, Paris, Madrid, Dubai, Washington, D.C., New York and Frankfurt, according to IHS Global Insight.

http://www.businessinsider.com/mubar...#ixzz1DNNSaPhc

[al Roumi]

More and apparently new protesters gatheirng in Tahrir square, to urge Mubarak to bugger off.

I've not seen anything on what Frag's has mentioned. It would be good riddance if he did step down, shame if he took that much of the country's wealth with him (from the above link):

"about 20 lawyers have petitioned Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, the country's prosecutor general, to try Mubarak and his family for allegedly stealing state wealth.

Ibrahim Yosri, a lawyer and a former deputy foreign minister, has drafted the petition."

[ICantSpellDawg]

I seems like there has been somewhat of a military coup. Mubarak may announce his resignation within the next 2 hours. There was an announcement by the military that all of the protesters demands would be met "today". Pumped. I'm glad the administration pulled its head out of its ass and started supporting the movement.

[Ronin]

now we start seeing if this is good news, or if we will all miss Mubarak in a couple of years.

[ICantSpellDawg]

now we start seeing if this is good news, or if we will all miss Mubarak in a couple of years.

Nope, He reneged. Bummer of the year award. Even Panetta was confused.

[TinCow]

Mubarak's about to get tossed out the old-school way.

[al Roumi]

Mubarak's about to get tossed out the old-school way.

yah, I just hope it's as bloodless as possible. Not certain by a long shot. Pretty worrying stuff (but not surprising) regarding army treatment of protesters -they are largely seen to be pro the public.

[Ronin]

Mubarak's about to get tossed out the old-school way.

are we taking bets? I say defenestration.....just because I like the fact someone actually made up a word for such a specific act.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Maybe we can get a new word for getting tossed off of a minaret.

Or maybe, in the future when dictators fall painfully, we'll be able to say "He got Mubarak'd".

CR

[Hax]

Mubarak has resigned.

[al Roumi]

Woohoo! Only Suleiman, the SSI and (hopefully not) the army now... :)

[Strike For The South]

I love a good power vaccum in the morning

[Ronin]

Mubarak has resigned.

now on to elections.....or to pick a new dictator....whatever comes first.

Is there any place I can send my CV to apply??? anyone?

[drone]

Interesting legal take on the implications of Mubarak's resignation:
What Mubarak must do before he resigns

But for a real transition to democracy to begin, Mubarak must not resign until he has signed decrees that, under Egypt's constitution, only a president can issue. This is not simply a legal technicality; it is, as Nathan Brown recently blogged for ForeignPolicy.com, the only way out of our nation's political crisis.

Egypt's constitution stipulates that if the president resigns or his office becomes permanently "vacant," he must be replaced by the speaker of parliament or, in the absence of parliament, the chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court. In the event of the president's temporary inability to exercise his prerogatives, the vice president is to take over as the interim head of state. In both cases a new president must be elected within 60 days. Significantly, the constitution prohibits the interim president from introducing constitutional amendments, dissolving parliament or dismissing the cabinet.

If today Mubarak were no longer available to fulfill his role as president, the interim president would be one of two candidates. If he chooses to leave the country, say for "medical reasons," the interim president would be Omar Suleiman, the former intelligence chief who was recently made vice president. Egyptians, particularly those of us calling for an end to Mubarak's three-decade rule, see Suleiman as Mubarak II, especially after the lengthy interview he gave to state television Feb. 3 in which he accused the demonstrators in Tahrir Square of implementing foreign agendas. He did not even bother to veil his threats of retaliation against protesters.

On the other hand, if Mubarak is pushed to resign immediately we would have an even worse interim president: Fathi Surur, who has been speaker of the People's Assembly since 1990. Surur has long employed his legal expertise to maintain and add to the arsenal of abusive laws that Mubarak's regime has used against the Egyptian people. Since neither Suleiman nor Surur would be able to amend the constitution during the interim tenure, the next presidential election would be conducted under the notoriously restrictive election rules Mubarak introduced in 2007. That would effectively guarantee that no credible candidate would be able to run against the interim president.

So before Mubarak resigns he must sign a presidential decree delegating all of his authorities to his vice president until their current terms end in September. Mubarak issued similar decrees, transferring his powers to the prime minister, when he was hospitalized in 2004 and 2009. In addition, Mubarak must issue decrees lifting the "state of emergency" that has allowed him to suppress Egyptians' civil liberties since 1981 and ordering the release or trial of those held in administrative detention without charge - estimated to be in the thousands.

Mubarak handed off his power to the Army, so I guess it's up to them now to allow free elections.

[ICantSpellDawg]

I'm not sure that constitutions withstand revolution. It is really up to Egypt which autocratic technicalities will keep them from governing themselves.

[Lemur]

Mubarak has resigned.

A big day, truly. Now we just have to see if we're looking at the French Revolution, the American Revolution, or something in between.

More Beck madness below the spoil. Only watch if you have a strong stomach for highly paid loonies.

[Fisherking]

Undoubtedly , and I'm afraid I get irked by the focus on the marginal risk of even a whif of islamist government.

This should be a beautifull moment for democracy, not a scaremongerers love-in. The west should do its utmost to aid the Egyptian people to move towards true democratic rule. That does require us to be grown up and accept that they might well select a government that has Egypts best interests closest to its heart...

Then we may miss a great opportunity, huh?

[Greyblades]

And I will fall on my sword if I have to.

Please do.

[ICantSpellDawg]

ALLAHU AKBAR! ALLAHU AKBAR! ALLAHU AKBAR!

[Fragony]

Congrats Egyptians. No sportscar in the world goes faster from 0 to 100 than an angry Arab

[al Roumi]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/mi...441731292.html

Lets get down to business!

[gaelic cowboy]

A big day, truly. Now we just have to see if we're looking at the French Revolution, the American Revolution, or something in between.

More Beck madness below the spoil. Only watch if you have a strong stomach for highly paid loonies.

I think I feel sick, no in fact I know what I am feeling it is absolute terror of this lunatic and his insane views.

[Fragony]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/mi...441731292.html

Lets get down to business!

Let's get to work, the protesters are actually cleaning up the square. That is pretty awesome. Really impressed, of course there has been violence but these Egyptians deserve the Ghandi-award anyway. Heard of no attacks against any minorities or fractional disputes. Expected that, it's good to be wrong.

[Greyblades]

I dont suppose anyone knows how many have died, if any?

[Fragony]

I dont suppose anyone knows how many have died, if any?

Hundreds, 350 at least they are still counting

[Greyblades]

That's... actually pretty good in comparison to what happened in france, america, india, burma etc.