Our Man In Cairo – Waiting for Mubarak to die
Here’s a joke about politics. A man climbs the Kaaba during Ramadan (for Muslims, the Kaaba is the nearest point to heaven). He won’t come down unless Hosni Mubarak (the Egyptian President) comes in person to ask him. The authorities call Mubarak, and he arrives. Mubarak says, “son, come down from there.” The man says that Mubarak has to come up first. As soon as he does, the man lifts him up and yells to the sky “take him!”
Traditionally, Egypt had local Imams they could go to if they had political problems. The Imams had great power in the establishment. When this model was replaced by Western parliamentarianism, it was unclear to Egyptians how they would interact with the government. Political activism is alive in Egypt, but there is a cultural drag on it because of this history.
However, what is really stifling Egypt at the moment is Mubarak. Several years ago presidential elections were held. Mubarak was opposed by Ayman Nour. Originally Nour was a stooge of Mubarak’s that they picked to put on a show of having another candidate, but he rebelled and actually tried to win the election. For his pains he was put in prison for forging signatures – but how many signatures did Mubarak forge? Given that there was no real opposition to Mubarak you could argue that the entire election was forged.
Egypt is waiting for Mubarak to die.
