The once much celebrated pilot who became Egypt's president was forced last week to make an unexpected and rocky landing, writes Dina Ezzat When history is written, Friday, 11 February 2011, will be remembered as the day Egypt saw a sitting president pushed out. Hosni Mubarak had to step down following 18 days of nationwide demonstrations that called for an end to his rule, indeed his entire regime. He had been in power since 1981. Since the end of the monarchy in 1952, Egypt has technically had three presidents: Gamal Abdel-Nasser, Anwar El-Sadat and Mubarak. For the first two years following the July 1952 Revolution, the Revolutionary Command Council was in power, under the auspices of Mohamed Naguib. Abdel-Nasser became a hero of the Arab world and the Third World. To the great sorrow of the nation, Nasser passed away in September 1970. Meanwhile, his successor, Sadat, was assassinated in October 1981. Now, alongside two "late" presidents, Egypt has a "former" president. "The people gave me the responsibility of building the future of this nation. And I did it with honour," Mubarak said in one of his speeches last year. According to advisors in touch with him during the countdown to his departure, he stuck to this line until the end. "I think this is a great moment for us. All my life there was only Mubarak and nobody but Mubarak," said Asser, a demonstrator in the now much celebrated Tahrir Square. A painter, Asser was demonstrating not just to say no to the reality of "one president for all my life" but also against "the way things are": poor services, few opportunities and rampant corruption. Asser's grievances sum up those of the 25 January Revolution and its many sympathisers. "I am here to celebrate. I celebrate what the young people managed to achieve; to end the rule of Mubarak," said Mina who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly Monday evening as normalcy was returning to Tahrir Square. Mina was not entirely sympathetic with the demonstrations when they started. "I was concerned that [they might] open the door to replace the rule of Mubarak with the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood." It was when the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom printed photos of the "martyrs of the revolution" that Mina changed his mind. "Their photos broke my heart; I immediately took to Tahrir Square because those who died in the revolution were not all Muslim Brotherhood members," he said. Later Mina came to know that among the list of over 300 martyrs and over 3,000 wounded were Copts too. "We had two masses here [in Tahrir Square] and we dedicated one to the lives of the martyrs of the Two Saints Church [bombing], which we now know was done by the Ministry of Interior," he said. "I am not saying that Mubarak himself ordered this explosion, and it could well be that he did not know about the thugs that attacked Tahrir Square [a week after the demonstrations started on 25 January]. But he is the ruler, and Muslims say every ruler is responsible for his rule," stated Mina. Away from Tahrir Square there remains sympathy for the 25 January Revolution. "What matters to me is not that the rule of Mubarak ended; this is not a target for me," said Madiha, a middle-aged civil servant. "What matters," she continued, "is that the doors are now open for the democratisation of Egypt." Mubarak's sympathisers disagree. According to one former aide of Mubarak, "the man had a commitment to stability." He was, he added, very concerned about "uncalculated political moves that could open the door to instability, and he was convinced -- and so were many of his top advisors -- that it was not safe to give Egyptians democracy." "Prudence" is the word top aides use to sum up Mubarak's outlook. "He was a very prudent man by nature; he always preferred to be safe rather than sorry," said one aide. This prudence, however, according to sources that spoke on condition of anonymity, was not the reason for the way Mubarak's rule evolved during his years in office. Rather, a self-interested entourage hijacked the presidency, making sure their interests were well kept. "During his first days in office he was horrified by the shocking details of the state of the economy and the volume of problems in everything from dilapidated infrastructure to poor services," said another former aide. "He used to step out of the office after reading his files to scream: 'This is hell! I cannot do anything about it; find someone else!'" Mubarak stayed on, but he committed to keep just one term. "He once visited Al-Ahram during his early years and we asked him in the course of an off-the-record chat how many years he was planning to stay in power, and he said that nobody could be the president of Egypt for more than one term," remembers a senior and now retired Al-Ahram writer. During his early months in office, Mubarak went on record as promising to rewrite the article of the constitution regulating the number of terms allowed for any president, to restrict it to two terms. He never did. The issue was closed and even calls to reopen it during the past five years were shrugged off. "In part, they [his key aides and advisors] convinced him that it would be destabilising for Egypt to keep changing presidents; they said he should leave it for later, and if he did not wish to have a third term it would be up to him," commented one insider. On the day Mubarak stepped down, he was only a few months away from the end of his fifth term and was considering, according to many sources in the presidency and in the now defunct ruling National Democratic Party, a sixth term in view of complications surrounding the succession issue. This, it seems, was unacceptable to most Egyptians. For some, however, Mubarak's rule was not all bad. "It would be unfair to say he did not do any good during the past 30 years. He did some good things of course," said Hussein, a close to 60-year-old taxi driver. "Before, one would wait for five years and maybe more to get a telephone line; now you just apply and you have one." Ali, a retired civil servant, was impressed by the limited foreign problems Egypt faced under Mubarak, though he believes Egypt gradually lost its regional influence. "He never pursued regional leadership and had his eyes on the impact of any decision -- including his foreign policy decisions -- on the stability of Egypt," said one senior ambassador now retired. Mubarak's reluctance to open up to Iran, despite many attempts at rapprochement from Tehran, and his determined isolation of Hamas, said the same ambassador, was not just about synchronising political positions between Cairo and Washington but rather warding off the possible Islamisation of Egypt. Mubarak's critics insist that such Islamisation has been already put into motion, due to socio-economic deprivation and limits set on political activities. "Judging by the now unfolding stories about the huge scope of corruption under Mubarak's 30 years, it is hard to believe that his top interest was the improvement of living standards for Egyptians, as he used to say," said Amira, an Egyptian- Canadian citizen who left Egypt in the early 1990s to evade increasing economic hardship. On Tuesday, as the Higher Council of the Armed Forces who took over administration of state affairs, Amira, visiting her parents, called for attention to be shifted from who leads to what institutions are necessary for government, along with a clear separation of powers. "I don't think Mubarak came to office with the intention of being a dictator who rules for 30 years and who aspires to pass over power to his son," said Amira. "That outcome [was the result] of the absence of a system to forestall dictatorship." What will happen to Mubarak now? This question sparks fierce debate, even among the protesters of the 25 January Revolution. "Hosni Mubarak, pilot, take off!" they had shouted in the days preceding his ouster. Now Mubarak is in Sharm El-Sheikh. "He is very depressed; he feels he did not deserve this end, but he is holding up," said one presidential source Tuesday evening. Will Mubarak retire in Sharm El-Sheikh, or will he go overseas for some time before settling back in the country where he says he wants to die and be buried? The same source answers: "He will probably have to go for some medical check-ups soon, but as he said in his recent public speeches, he wants to die and be buried here in Egypt. He meant what he said."
