CAIRO - Is Mubarak in a bad state of health? Is he in such a state of disbelief such that he has lost the will to live? Or is he still in contact with old guards of his regime, steering from Sharm el-Sheikh a counter-revolution that is meant to wreck havoc across the country? These are the kind of questions that are being circulated today among Egyptians. Because no definite answers are yet being provided, Egyptians, emotional by nature, harbour mixed feelings towards a man they have become used to so long despite his 30 years of autocratic rule. In fact, such mixed feelings dominated the scene from day one of the protests which, at the time, had not yet been defined as a revolution. The tug-of-war that took place from January 25 to February 11 between protesters in Al Tahrir Square and head of the regime occurred in an ambience brimming with anticipation and confused feelings of fear, joy, surprise, provocation, contempt, sympathy and relief. During those l8 days, each time Mubarak addressed the nation in response to the roared demands of the masses in Al Tahrir Square, the people were divided in their reaction. While some of the public were satisfied with the amendments he offered, others were certain that the then president was playing a game. He never gave them the news they had been waiting for, as he always seemed to be a few steps behind. In all cases, however, Mubarak's desire to hold on to power was quite clear. His supporters gave him credit for realising stability in the country and appreciated his military record; especially that he was given the credit for the crucial air strike on Israeli air bases in the October l973 war. They believed that remaining in power for a few more months would do the country no harm but would at least preserve him his dignity as a president that has ended his term not as one that had been ousted. Due to local culture, fatherly figures are usually held in high esteem, it was too much for many Egyptians to see the downfall of a symbol of 'parental' authority. The development of events was stunningly rapid and perhaps hard to absorb since the Egyptians had never experienced the meaning of a 'former president' as opposed to a late president. On the other hand, the persistence, which youth of the January 25 revolution have manifested, clearly conveyed the message that there is no going back on public demands to purge the country of oppression and corruption. For these people, there was no room for compassion at such a critical turning point of the nation's history. When the pressure they exercised compelled Mubarak to finally step down, similar contradictory feelings swirled across the entire nation. Wavering between sympathy for a man that tantalised public feelings with a speech about his desire to die in his homeland and relief for the attainment of freedom, the mood was generally high not only in Tahrir Square but at every Egyptian home. Today social network sites actually reflect the divergent feelings towards Mubarak at the human and political levels. Ten Facebook groups have extended an apology to Mubarak calling for a peaceful demonstration this weekend objecting to offence done to the former president. They wrote things like 'We still love you', 'We forgive you', 'We wish you health'.... Others ridiculed the idea of feeling sorry for Mubarak, who, in their opinion had had no mercy for his people for three decades and headed a corrupt regime. Therefore, they find no reason to look back, but are advocating the need to look forward for ways and means to restructure institutions and lay the foundation of a new political regime that advocates freedom, democracy, equality and social justice.
