IT and politics

Update 19:33: funny story on Al Jazeera English just now. Following the resignation of Mubarak, an overjoyed taxi driver reportedly left his vehicle, leaving a camera man from the network to drive it. 😎

Just one day after he signaled he would not do so, Mubarak has resigned, according to USA Today and others. Excerpt from the article: (note: some (unimportant) errors here, not introduced by me)

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has resigne.d Vice President Omar Suleiman said in a brief televised statement. His statement in full: “Hosni Mubarak has waived the office of presidency and told the army to run the affairs of the country. ”

Tahrir Square is full of joy and possibly noisier than ever.

It remains to be seen what really happened behind the scenes and how things will progress in terms of elections etc.

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Update 22:12: listened to Mubarak’s speech on Al Jazeera English. He is not leaving, and it doesn’t seem like he’s offering anything new that is significant. The crowd in Tahrir Square definitely did not appreciate it, very angry response from there. It remains to be seen what the army and other parties will do going forward; quite a confusing situation in Egypt right now with several conflicting signals.

Following many rapid events in Egypt, CNN reports on their home page:

Strong likelihood Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will resign Thursday night, CIA Director Leon Panetta tells Congress.

This by itself may not satisfy protesters’ increasing demands, such as ones reported by Al Jazeera as follows:

They want a one-year transitional period before full parliamentary elections – during which a three-person presidential council should run the country while a panel of experts write a new, permanent constitution – taking advice from opposition groups and senior, high-profile Egyptians, including the Muslim Brotherhood.

Some reports by Al Jazeera suggest a resignation might be accompanied by some set of actions, but in any case, if Mubarak steps down now it would certainly be of great symbolic value for the protesters’ interests. I would say it would no longer be a matter of if, but when, the protesters would see their efforts pay off. That is hardly to say that the journey is over, though.

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On Al Jazeera (“Inside Story – Changing the US vision of the Middle East“, February 4, 2011), in the context of the political developments in Egypt, Khairi Abaza is asked about the desire for stability in the region. He points out several times that what matters would be how stability is achieved, and if it lasts. My transcript of the video from ca. 14:17 to ca. 14:26:

[REPORTER] Yea, that’s what I’m asking, how can you reject stability?
[KHAIRI ABAZA] Stability, I mean, er, graveyards are very stable.

(It sounds like the reporter was quite amused by this.)

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