Egyyptian women demonstrating in the 1919 uprising against the British. Photo: Wikimedia Commons |
"In the case of a national chart, a new moon suggests that the relationship between the people and the government is smothering. The government acts like a domineering, all-powerful parent suppressing the voice of the people." – That's what I wrote about the Egyptian national chart on January 27th.
Here is what ex-President Hosni Mubarak said in his final speech to the nation on February 10th: "I am addressing you today with a speech from my heart. A speech of a father to his sons and daughters." And he went on in much the same vein. Boy, did that piss off the demonstrators who answered him with chthonic roar.
I also wrote: "If I were President Mubarak (or in his circle), I'd be very careful indeed right now. The rioters are not your real enemy, he (or she) is right next to you." Yes well, I guess that would have been his friends, the generals then.
Things have already changed a lot since January 27th, but I think I was pretty accurate. For the rest of my analysis click here.
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen if the junta makes way for a genuine democracy. Getting rid of Mubarak may turn out to have been the easy part.