An earlier Egyptian revolution's 59th anniversary will be celebrated on July 23 this year, but a much more recent one started on January 25 and toppled long-standing President Hosni Mubarak on February 11. Ironically, January 25 was already a public holiday; it celebrated the Police Day. Who would have imagined that this particular date would mark a popular revolution, ousting Mubarak after nearly 30 years in power. Commemorating major national events is a well-established tradition all over the world. In the US, there is Independence Day on July 4. The French have Bastille Day on July 14 and Russians the October Revolution on October 25. But there is not a single country in the world that has two revolutions in its calendar. Egypt is apparently the exception. "What's wrong with that?" wondered Ali Farghaly, a professor of sociology at the Cairo-based Ain Shams University. "The July revolution is a landmark in Egypt's history and ingrained in the nation's memory. For instance, we still commemorate Evacuation Day on June 18, and there is no reason why we shouldn't," Farghaly told the Egyptian Mail in an interview. On June 18, 1956, President Gamal Abdel Nasser ended the British occupation, which began in 1882. "There are countries, like the US for example, that wish to remember events that took place 200 or 300 years ago. Egyptian history is very rich, as it dates back to 5,000 B.C.," he said. "Revolutions are milestones in a nations' history. They improve peoples' lives," the professor noted. "In 1952, the Army led a revolution by staging a coup d'état against the monarchy and then appeared in the political arena to save Egypt from corruption. However, it failed to turn the country into a democracy," Farghaly explained. "The July 23 revolution is part of Egypt's history. The January 25 revolution could be considered a 'correction' to the one in 1952. It is a popular uprising that has been supported by the Army. In 1952, the army revolted and the people supported it," Farghaly said. "Although it failed to create a democratic state, the July Revolution brought about numerous gains for blue collars and farmers," he said. Egypt will have its fourth republic after the January 25 revolution, said Assem el-Dessouqi, a professor of modern history at Helwan University, a public university in southern Cairo. "Since the July revolution, Egypt has witnessed three republics: the republic of Nasser (who died in 1970) focused on Arab nationalism and socialism; the republic of Sadat (assassinated in 1981) gave the country an open-door policy and moved Egypt closer to the West. Finally there was the republic of Mubarak, who followed in the footsteps of his predecessor," el-Dessouqi explained. "The January 25 revolution will lead to a fourth republic. Hopefully, it will bring about democracy," he said. No one can ignore the July revolution as Egypt's most important event in the 20th century; it led to the liberation of other Arab and African countries. "Both revolutions have great impacts on the political and social landscape of Egypt and the Arab world. On July 23, 1952, a group of military officers led a coup, which was consequently supported by the whole nation," said Hamdy el-Hawary, a development and civil society researcher and member of the April 6 Movement. "What makes the January 25 Revolution so significant is that it was in tune with popular uprisings in neighbouring Arab countries," el-Hawary, who is also a poet, said. "What happened in 1952 was a military coup that put an end to a monarchy and led to a republican era. Of course we should mark it as a public holiday since it is part of our history," he said. "On July 23, I'm sure people asked each other what was happening. But on January 25 they knew what was going on. Millions of people from all walks of life joined in the 18-day uprising," he explained. Egyptians have the lion share in terms of holidays worldwide. There are 18 public holidays in this country. In Japan and the US, for instance, there are 12 and 11 respectively. How do these public holidays affect the economy? In 2010, the State-run Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) stated that around LE300 billion ($50.3 billion) got lost each year. It is an appalling figure when compared to the country's gross domestic product (GDP), which stood at LE1.2 trillion in the fiscal year (FY) 2009/2010, according to the Ministry of Finance. The figure accounts for 25 per cent of country's GDP. "Both revolutions are very significant and certainly deserve public holidays. As for the number of free days, I think there are too many," said Sherif Shawqi, an economics researcher at Alexandria University, another public university. "But I think the study by CAPMAS was exaggerating. If there were no public holidays at all, would Egypt's GDP really increase by LE300 billion annually?" Shawqi wondered. "Public holidays could easily be reduced to 12 days a year, but only the Government can do that," he added.
