Mubarak's presidency greatly impacted Egyptian society and politics. This is in large part due to Egypt's political structure, in which the President must approve all pieces of legislation and state expenditures before they are enacted.[2]
Politics
Hosni Mubarak in 2009
Arab Republic of Egypt
جمهورية مصر العربية(Arabic) Jumhūrīyat Miṣr al-ʻArabīyah
Hosni Mubarak became the President of Egypt following the assassination of Anwar Sadat on 6 October 1981; this was subsequently legitimized a few weeks later through a referendum in the People's Assembly, the lower house of Egypt's bicameral legislature. He had previously served as Vice President since 1975, a position he gained after rising through the ranks of the Egyptian Air Force during the preceding two decades. He also held the title of Deputy Defence Minister at the time of the 1973 October War.
Political reform was limited during this period. Prior to 2005, opposition candidates were not permitted to run for President, with the position instead being reaffirmed via referendum in the People's Assembly at regular six-year intervals. This changed after a constitutional amendment on 25 May 2005, which transformed it into a de jure elected office accountable to the Egyptian people. Presidential elections were held four months later, with Mubarak receiving nearly 89% of the popular vote against two other candidates. In order to be listed on the ballot, a presidential candidate must have the endorsement of a political party and the approval of a national election commission. Opposition parties called on voters to boycott the referendum as meaningless, but it passed with over 80% approval.[3][4][5]
Shortly after mounting an unprecedented presidential campaign, Nour was jailed on forgery charges critics called phony; he was released on 18 February 2009.[6] Brotherhood members were allowed to run for parliament in 2005 as independents, garnering 88 seats, or 20 percent of the People's Assembly.
The opposition parties have been weak and divided and compared to the NDP. The November 2000 People's Assembly elections saw 34 members of the opposition win seats in the 454-seat assembly, facing a clear majority of 388 ultimately affiliated with the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, was kept an illegal organization and not recognized as a political party (current Egyptian law prohibits the formation of political parties based on religion). Members are known publicly and openly speak their views. Members of the Brotherhood have been elected to the People's Assembly and local councils as independents. The Egyptian political opposition also includes groups and popular movements such as Kefaya and the April 6 Youth Movement, although they are somewhat less organized than officially registered political parties. Bloggers, or cyberactivists as Courtney C. Radsch terms them, have also played an important political opposition role, writing, organizing, and mobilizing public opposition.[7]
President Mubarak had tight, autocratic control over Egypt. A dramatic drop in support for Mubarak and his domestic economic reform program increased with surfacing news about his son Alaa being favored in government tenders and privatization. As Alaa started getting out of the picture by 2000, Mubarak's second son Gamal started rising in the National Democratic Party and succeeded in getting a newer generation of neo-liberals into the party and eventually the government. Gamal Mubarak branched out with a few colleagues to set up Medinvest Associates Ltd., which manages a private equity fund, and to do some corporate finance consultancy work.[8]
Mubarak maintained Egypt's commitment to the Camp David peace process, while restoring relations with other Arab states. Mubarak also restored relations with USSR three years after Sadat's expulsion of Soviet experts.[9] In January 1984, Egypt was readmitted to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation; in November 1987, an Arab summit resolution allowed other Arab countries to resume diplomatic relations with Egypt; and in 1989 Egypt was readmitted to the Arab League. Egypt also played a moderating role in international forums such as the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement.
Under Mubarak, Egypt was a staunch ally of the United States, whose aid to Egypt has averaged $1.5 billion a year since the 1979 signing of the Camp David Peace Accords.[10] Egypt was a member of the allied coalition in the 1991 Gulf War, and Egyptian infantry were some of the first to land in Saudi Arabia to evict Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Egypt's involvement in the coalition was deemed by the George H. W. Bush administration as crucial in garnering wider Arab support for the liberation of Kuwait.
Although unpopular among Egyptians, the participation of Egyptian forces brought financial benefits for the Egyptian government. Reports that sums as large as $500,000 per soldier were paid or debt forgiven were published in the news media. According to The Economist:
The programme worked like a charm: a textbook case, says the IMF. In fact, luck was on Hosni Mubarak's side; when the US was hunting for a military alliance to force Iraq out of Kuwait, Egypt's president joined without hesitation. After the war, his reward was that America, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, and Europe forgave Egypt around $14billion of debt.[11]
Egypt acted as a mediator between Syria and Turkey in a 1998 dispute over boundaries, Turkey's diversion of water, and alleged Syrian support for Kurdish rebels.[12]
Mubarak did not support the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the US, arguing that the Israeli–Palestinian conflict should have been resolved first.[13] In 2009, when the Obama administration "indicated it would consider" extending protection to its Middle Eastern allies "if Iran continues its disputed nuclear activities", Mubarak stated "Egypt will not be part of any American nuclear umbrella intended to protect the Gulf countries."[14][15]
Propaganda
Mubarak "fostered a culture of virulent anti-Semitism in Egypt" and turned Egypt into "the world's most prolific producer of anti-Semitic ideas and attitudes".[16] During the Mubarak years, the Egyptian media portrayed the infamous anti-Semitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as genuine, accused the Jews of spreading venereal diseases in Egypt, of working to sabotage Egyptian agriculture, and of causing the problems of drug addiction among the Egyptian youth.[17] The anti-Semitic pamphlet Human Sacrifice in the Talmud was made mandatory reading by the Egyptian Ministry of Education.[17] The Israeli historian Major Efraim Karsh wrote in 2006 that in Egypt's "...numberless articles, scholarly writings, books, cartoons, public statements, and radio and television programs, Jews are painted in the blackest terms imaginable".[17] In 2002, a mini-series Horseman without a horse aired on Egyptian state television which portrayed The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as genuine.[17]
Unrest and terror
Unrest was not uncommon during Mubarak's reign. In February 1986 the Central Security Forces mutinied taking to the streets, rioting, burning and looting in demand for better pay. The uprising was the greatest challenge of the Mubarak presidency up to that point and only the second time in modern Egyptian history the Army was dispatched to Egyptian streets to restore order.[18]
In 1992, 14,000 soldiers occupied the Cairo shantytown suburb of Imbaba (est. population 1,000,000) for six-weeks arresting and removing some 5000 people, after al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya followers of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman attempted to take control there.[19] In the following years al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya waged war against the state and against foreigners. In one year (1993) 1106 persons were killed or wounded. More police (120) than terrorists (111) were killed that year and "several senior police officials and their bodyguards were shot dead in daylight ambushes."[20]
During 2007 and 2008, Egypt witnessed more than 150 demonstrations and strikes, which were partially "violent and required heavy deployment of the security forces."[22]
Human rights
A state of emergency remained in force throughout the entirety of Mubarak's presidency and provided a basis for arbitrary detention and unfair trials.[23] Human rights violations on the part of Egyptian security services during Mubarak's rule were described as "systematic" by Amnesty International.[24] In 2007, Amnesty International reported that the Egyptian police routinely engaged in "beatings, electric shocks, prolonged suspension by the wrists and ankles in contorted positions, death threats and sexual abuse".[24] In 2009, Human Rights Watch estimated between 5,000 and 10,000 Egyptians were held without charge. Police and security forces regularly used torture and brutality.[23] According to the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, 701 cases of torture at Egyptian police stations were documented from 1985 to 2011, and 204 victims died of torture and mistreatment.[25] The group contends that crimes of torture "occur in Egyptian streets in broad daylight, at police checkpoints, and in people's homes in flagrant violation of the people's dignity and freedom."[26]
Freedom of speech, association and assembly were limited under Mubarak. The Press Law, Publications Law, and the penal code regulated the press, and called for punishment by fines or imprisonment for those who criticized the president.[27]Freedom House upgraded Egypt's Press Freedom status in 2008 from "Not Free" to "Partly Free" in recognition not of a liberalization of government policy, but "of the courage of Egyptian journalists to cross "red lines" that previously restricted their work and in recognition of the greater range of viewpoints represented in the Egyptian media and blogosphere. This progress occurred in spite of the government's ongoing—and in some cases increasing—harassment, repression, and imprisonment of journalists."[28]
In 2005, Reporters Without Borders placed Egypt 143rd out of 167 nations on press freedoms,[29] and its 2006 report cited continued harassment and, in three cases, imprisonment, of journalists.[30] The two sources agree that promised reforms on the subject have been disappointingly slow or uneven in implementation.
From 1991, Mubarak undertook an ambitious domestic economic reform program to reduce the size of the public sector and expand the role of the private sector. During the 1990s, a series of International Monetary Fund arrangements, coupled with massive external debt relief resulting from Egypt's participation in the Gulf War coalition, helped Egypt improve its macroeconomic performance.
In the last two decades of Mubarak's reign, inflation was lowered and from 1981 to 2006, GDP per capita based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) increased fourfold (from US$1355 in 1981 to an estimated US$4535 in 2006, and US$6180 in 2010).[31]
However this growth was far from evenly spread. Monetary restructuring, especially the flotation of the Egyptian pound, the liberalization of the country's money markets, a reform of the tax system and strategic reductions in governmental social spending, resulted in "staggering hardships for the majority of the people" according to at least one observer.[who?] With housing scarcer and more expensive "marriage became harder for young people; it became common to have a family of six or seven living together in a single room."[32] In many Egyptian households, it was common for family members to take turns sleeping on the same beds as overcrowding made it impossible to have more space for beds for everyone.[24] Only a quarter of poorer Egyptian families purchased toothpaste for their children as toothpaste was considered to be a luxury item for the poor of Egypt.[24]
As of 1989, early in the Mubarak era, Egypt continued to have a skewed distribution of wealth; about 2,000 families had annual incomes in excess of LE35,000, while more than 4 million people earned less than LE200.[33] Social conditions in Egypt improved but modernization "did not succeed in reaching a critical mass of its citizens," furthermore "some of the recent gains were reversed due to the 2008 food price crisis and fuel price shock and to the global crisis-related slowdown in economic activity." According to the World Bank:
infant mortality and malnutrition among children under five both decreased by half and life expectancy rose from 64 to 71 years.[34] The economy and the living standards for the vast majority of the population improved, although in an uneven manner.[35] While 18% of the Egyptian population still lives below the national poverty line, this figure goes up to 40% in rural Upper Egypt – and an additional 20% of the population has experienced poverty at one point during the last decade, heightening a sense of social vulnerability and insecurity.[36]
According to an article by The Seattle Times in January 2011, "about half the population [of Egypt] live[d] on $2 a day or less."[37]
State corruption
While in office, political corruption in the Mubarak administration's Ministry of Interior rose dramatically, due to the increased power over the institutional system that is necessary to secure the prolonged presidency.[clarification needed] Such corruption has led to the imprisonment of political figures and young activists without trials,[38] illegal undocumented hidden detention facilities,[39][40] and rejecting universities, mosques, newspapers staff members based on political inclination.[41] On a personnel level,[clarification needed] each individual officer is allowed to violate citizens' privacy in his area using unconditioned arrests due to the emergency law.[citation needed]
In 2010, Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index report assessed Egypt with a CPI score of 3.1 out of 10.0, based on perceptions of the degree of corruption from business people and country analysts, (10 being no corruption and 0 being totally corrupt). Egypt ranked 98th out of the 178 countries included in the report.[42]
Society and education
Early in the Mubarak presidency (1986), a census found Egypt's population at 50.4 million, including about 2.3 million Egyptians working in other countries. More than 34% of the population was twelve years old or younger, and 68% under the age of thirty. Fewer than 3% of Egyptians were sixty-five years or older. Like most developing countries there was a steady influx of rural inhabitants to the urban areas, but just over half the population still lived in villages. In 2010, The Economist reported the claim that Egypt's population was mostly rural was due to the fact that the villages whose population had expanded to over 100, 000 people were not classified as towns and in fact three-quarters of Egyptians were living in urban areas.[24] In 1989 average life expectancy at birth was 59 for men and 60 for women. The infant mortality rate was 94 deaths per 1,000 births.[43] A survey in 2010 showed that 93% of Egyptians living in villages complained that the villages lacked proper sewage with human excrement being dumped in the Nile.[24] The same survey showed that 85% of Egyptian households did not have garbage service, leading to people burning their rubbish, dumping it on the streets or canals, or letting animals eat their rubbish.[24] Visitors to Egypt almost always commented on the "grubbiness" of Egyptian streets that were covered with garbage and human excrement.[24] The World Bank estimated that there were about 16 million Egyptians living in squatter settlements.[24] Almost all Egyptian households had electricity and piped water, but the quality of the service varied widely with the poor households getting only a few hours of electricity per day and erratic amounts of water that was often polluted, leading to high rates of kidney diseases.[24]
Under a law pass shortly before the Mubarak presidency, the structure of pre-university public education in Egypt made a nine-year education compulsory. Despite this most parents removed their children from school before they graduated from ninth grade. The basic cycle included six years of primary school and after passing special examinations, three years of intermediate school.[44] Another special examinations gained admittance to the non-compulsory secondary cycle (grades ten through twelve). Secondary students chose between a general (college preparatory) curriculum of humanities, mathematics, or the sciences: and a technical curriculum of agriculture, communications, or industry. Students could advance between grades only after they received satisfactory scores on standardized tests.[44]
As in many poor countries the enrollment rate for girls lagged boys. In 1985–86, early in the Mubarak presidency, only 45% of all primary students were girls. An estimated 75% of girls, but 94% of boys, between the ages of six and twelve were enrolled in primary school. In Upper Egypt less than 30% of all students were girls. Girls also dropped out of primary school more frequently than boys.[44] Girls accounted for about 41 percent of total intermediate school enrollment and 39 percent of secondary school enrollment. Among all girls aged twelve to eighteen in 1985–86, only 46 percent were enrolled in school.[44]
Overthrow
Mubarak was ousted following eighteen days of demonstrations during the 2011 Egyptian revolution, which began on 25 January.[45] On 11 February, Vice President Omar Suleiman, who was appointed thirteen days prior, announced that Mubarak had resigned as president and transferred authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.[46][47] On 13 April, a prosecutor ordered Mubarak and both his sons to be detained for 15 days of questioning about allegations of corruption and abuse of power.[48] He was then ordered to stand trial on charges of premeditated murder of peaceful protestors during the revolution.[49]
The history of Egypt has been long and wealthy, due to the flow of the Nile River with its fertile banks and delta, as well as the accomplishments of Egypt's native inhabitants and outside influence. Much of Egypt's ancient history was a mystery until Egyptian hieroglyphs were deciphered with the discovery and deciphering of the Rosetta Stone. Among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.
According to most scholars the history of modern Egypt dates from the start of the rule of Muhammad Ali in 1805 and his launching of Egypt's modernization project that involved building a new army and suggesting a new map for the country, though the definition of Egypt's modern history has varied in accordance with different definitions of modernity. Some scholars date it as far back as 1516 with the Ottomans' defeat of the Mamlūks in 1516–17.
The New Wafd Party, officially the Egyptian Wafd Party and also known as the Al-Wafd Party, is a nationalist liberal party in Egypt.
The National Democratic Party, often referred to in Egypt as simply the National Party, was the ruling political party in Egypt from 1978 to 2011. It was founded by President Anwar Sadat in 1978. The NDP wielded uncontested power in state politics, usually considered a de facto single party, with authoritarian characteristics, inside an officially multi-party system, from its creation until the resignation of Sadat's successor Hosni Mubarak in response to the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.
Kefaya is the unofficial moniker of the Egyptian Movement for Change, a grassroots coalition which prior to the 2011 revolution drew its support from across Egypt's political spectrum. It was a platform for protest against Hosni Mubarak's presidency and the possibility he might seek to transfer power directly to his son Gamal; political corruption and stagnation; "the blurring of the lines between power and wealth; and the regime's cruelty, coercion and disregard for human rights."
Omar Mahmoud Suleiman was an Egyptian army general, politician, diplomat, and intelligence officer. A leading figure in Egypt's intelligence system beginning in 1986, Suleiman was appointed to the long-vacant vice presidency by President Hosni Mubarak on 29 January 2011. On 11 February 2011, Suleiman announced Mubarak's resignation and ceased being vice president; governing power was transferred to the Armed Forces Supreme Council, of which Suleiman was not a member. A new head of intelligence services was appointed by the ruling Supreme Council. Suleiman withdrew from the political scene and did not appear in public after announcing Mubarak's resignation.
The History of Republican Egypt spans the period of modern Egyptian history from the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 to the present day, which saw the toppling of the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, the establishment of a presidential republic, and a period of profound economic, and political change in Egypt, and throughout the Arab world. The abolition of a monarchy and aristocracy viewed widely as sympathetic to Western interests, particularly since the ousting of Khedive Isma'il Pasha, over seven decades earlier, helped strengthen the authentically Egyptian character of the republic in the eyes of its supporters.
Presidential elections were held in Egypt in 2012, with the first round on 23 and 24 May 2012 and the second on 16 and 17 June, the first democratic presidential election in Egyptian history. The Muslim Brotherhood declared early 18 June 2012, that its candidate, Mohamed Morsi, won Egypt's presidential election, which would be the first victory of an Islamist as head of state in the Arab world. It was the second presidential election in Egypt's history with more than one candidate, following the 2005 election, and the first presidential election after the 2011 Egyptian revolution which ousted president Hosni Mubarak, during the Arab Spring. However, Morsi's presidency was brief and short-lived, and he later faced massive protests for and against his rule, only to be ousted in a military coup in July that year.
The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January Revolution, began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police holiday" as a statement against increasing police brutality during the last few years of Hosni Mubarak's presidency. It consisted of demonstrations, marches, occupations of plazas, non-violent civil resistance, acts of civil disobedience and strikes. Millions of protesters from a range of socio-economic and religious backgrounds demanded the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Violent clashes between security forces and protesters resulted in at least 846 people killed and over 6,000 injured. Protesters retaliated by burning over 90 police stations across the country.
International reactions to the Egyptian revolution of 2011 refer to external responses to the events that took place in Egypt between 25 January and 10 February 2011, as well as some of the events after the collapse of the government of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, such as Mubarak's trial. The reactions have generally been either measured or supportive of the Egyptian people, with most governments and organisations calling for non-violent responses on both sides and peaceful moves towards reform. Whilst the protesters called for Mubarak to step down immediately, most foreign governments stopped short of this demand, at least during the early phases of the protests, due to realpolitik concerns about the consequences of a power vacuum on the stability of Egypt specifically and to the wider Middle East as a whole. Some Middle Eastern leaders expressed support for Mubarak. Meanwhile many governments issued travel advisories and evacuated their citizens from the country.
Anwar Sadat, the 3rd President of Egypt, was assassinated on 6 October 1981 during the annual victory parade held in Cairo to celebrate Operation Badr, during which the Egyptian Army had crossed the Suez Canal and taken back the Sinai Peninsula from Israel at the beginning of the Yom Kippur War. The assassination was undertaken by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.
The Egyptian Crisis was a period that started with the Egyptian revolution of 2011 and ended with the installation of a counterrevolutionary regime under the presidency of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in 2014. It was a tumultuous three years of political and social unrest, characterized by mass protests, a series of popular elections, deadly clashes, and military reinforcement. The events have had a lasting effect on the country's current course, its political system and its society.
The trials and judicial hearings following the 2011 Egyptian Revolution were a series of legal moves to establish accountability among the various Egyptian government officials and prominent businessmen.
Hamdeen Sabahi is an Egyptian politician, journalist. He is currently the leader of the Egyptian Popular Current and a co-leader of the National Salvation Front. An opposition activist during the Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak eras, Sabahi was jailed 17 times during their presidencies for political dissidence. He was an immediate supporter and participant of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Sabahi entered the 2012 Egyptian presidential race in which he finished third place with 21.5% of the vote trailing the second place candidate Ahmed Shafiq by a margin of 700,000 votes. In the 2014 presidential election he was one of just two candidates. He ran second with less than 4% of the vote. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was declared the winner after attracting 22 million of the nearly 23 million votes cast. Sisi was sworn into office as President of Egypt on 8 June 2014.
The history of Egypt under Anwar Sadat covers the eleven year period of Egyptian history from Anwar Sadat's election as President of Egypt on 15 October 1970, following the death of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, to Sadat's assassination by Islamist fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981. Though presenting himself as a Nasserist during his predecessor's lifetime, upon becoming President, Sadat broke with many of the core tenets of the domestic and foreign policy ideology that had defined Egyptian politics since the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. In addition to abandoning many of Nasser's economic and political principles via the Infitah policy, Sadat ended Egypt's strategic partnership with the Soviet Union in favor of a new strategic relationship with the United States, initiated the peace process with the State of Israel in exchange for the evacuation of all Israeli military forces and settlers from Egyptian territory, and instituted a form of politics in Egypt that, whilst far removed from Egypt's pre-revolution democratic system, allowed for some multi-party representation in Egyptian politics. Sadat's tenure also witnessed a rise in governmental corruption, and a widening of the gulf between rich and poor, both of which would become hallmarks of the presidency of his successor, Hosni Mubarak.
The Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt was the former fundamental law of Egypt. It was signed into law by President Mohamed Morsi on 26 December 2012, after it was approved by the Constituent Assembly on 30 November 2012 and passed in a referendum held 15–22 December 2012 with 64% support, and a turnout of 33%. It replaced the 2011 Provisional Constitution of Egypt, adopted in 2011 following the Egyptian revolution. On 3 July 2013, the constitution was suspended by order of the Egyptian army. On 8 July 2013, acting President Adly Mansour issued a decree that envisaged the introduction of amendments to the constitution and put them to a referendum; if approved, the suspended-constitution would be restored into law. The current constitutional declaration has the power of a constitution; it outlines the authorities of the president and establishes many rights.
Hassan Al Alfi was an Egyptian police major and politician, who served as governor and interior minister of Egypt from 1993 to 1997. He resigned from office following the Luxor massacre.
The Anti-Coup Alliance is a coalition in Egypt formed to reverse the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi. The coalition is made up of approximately 40 Islamist parties and groups.
Mohamed Anwar Esmat Sadat is an Egyptian politician. He was a member of the Egyptian Parliament during the rule of Hosni Mubarak. He is related to two prominent Egyptian politicians, as the nephew of Anwar Sadat and brother of Talaat Sadat. He won a seat during the 2011–12 Egyptian parliamentary election for the second constituency (Fardi) Monufia Governorate and is the founder of the Reform and Development Party along with Raymond Lakah.
↑ Quote: "Egypt is a presidential state. .. the President is the dominant political and governmental authority in Egypt. Any important policy or project must normally have the `blessing` of the President before it can proceed with a reasonable prospect of success." Egypt Under Mubarak, "Government and the State in Egypt Today," Naziah N. Ayubi p.10
↑ http://wwwArchived 26 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine . tradingeconomics .com/egypt/gdp-per-capita-ppp Egypt GDP per capita PPP| tradingeconomics.com (a blacklisted site although it seems legit.)
↑ Egypt on the Brink by Tarek Osman, Yale University Press, 2010, p. 130–31
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