“I prefer whoever God prefers,” Mubarak answered while pointing to the sky. With this response, Mubarak once again opened the door for debate over who will succeed him as president. He then proceeded to repeat the answer three times when a foreign reporter asked another question about who Mubarak preferred to succeed him in his position. President Mubarak's remarks came during a joint press conference held with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. In the wake of the president's comments, two experts in the fields of politics and psychology, as well as a religious scholar, said that although Mubarak's response was representative of Egyptian culture, it was not representative of political norms in the international arena, as it mixes politics with religion. Ahmad Okasha, president of the World Psychiatric Association, said, “Egyptian culture revolves around the idea of divine destiny, but in the West they do not understand this culture.” He added, “The fact that the journalist repeated his question three times proves that President Mubarak's response is unintelligible in Western culture and to the educated elite.” He continued, “The West treats such a response with disdain or as a joke.” “The president's answer will do nothing to dispel Egyptians' doubts and skepticism over who will be chosen as his successor in the near future,” said Amr Hashim Rabia, a fellow at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. Rabia was surprised by the ambiguity the president showed regarding the upcoming presidential elections while he spoke about investment, traffic and unemployment schemes for Egypt over the next 40 years. Abdel Mati Beyoumi, a member of the Islamic Research Group, said Islam instructs Muslims to trust in God and submit to God's will for the future. However, he noted, “it was incumbent upon everyone regardless of their social position or level of influence to prepare for the future.” Translated from the Arabic Edition.
