CAIRO – Egypt's Hosni Mubarak resigned as president and handed control to the military on Friday after 29 years in power, bowing to a historic 18-day wave of pro-democracy demonstrations by hundreds of thousands. "The people ousted the president," chanted a crowd of tens of thousands outside his presidential palace in Cairo.
Several hundred thousand protesters massed in Cairo's central Tahrir Square exploded into joy, cheering and waving Egyptian flags. Fireworks, car horns and celebratory shots in the air were heard around the city of 18 million in joy after Vice President Omar Suleiman made the announcement on national TV just after nightfall.
Mubarak had sought to cling to power, handing some of his authorities to Suleiman while keeping his title. But an explosion of protests Friday rejecting the move appeared to have pushed the military into forcing him out completely. Hundreds of thousands marched throughout the day in cities across the country as soliders stood by, besieging his palace in Cairo and Alexandria and the state TV building. A governor of a southern province was forced to flee to safety in the face of protests there.
It was the biggest day of protests yet in the upheaval that began Jan. 25, growing from youth activists working on the Internet into a mass movement that tapped into widespread discontent with Mubarak's authoritarian lock on power, corruption, economic woes and widespread disparities between rich and poor.
"In these grave circumstances that the country is passing through, President Hosni Mubarak has decided to leave his position as president of the republic," a grim-looking Suleiman said. "He has mandated the Armed Forces Supreme Council to run the state. God is our protector and succor."
Nobel Peace laureate Mohammed ElBaradei, whose young suporters were among the organizers of the protest movement, told The Associated Press, "This is the greatest day of my life."
"The country has been liberated after decades of repression," he said adding that he expects a "beautiful" transition of power.
Outside Mubarak's Oruba Palace in northern Cairo, women on balconies ululated with the joyous tongue-trilling used to mark weddings and births.
"Finally we are free," said Safwan Abo Stat, a 60-year-old in the crowd of protesters at the palace. "From now on anyone who is going to rule will know that these people are great."
Another, Mohammed el-Masry, weeping with joy, said he had spent the past two weeks in Tahrir before marching to the palace Friday. He was now headed back to the square to join his ecstatic colleagues. "We made it," he gasped.
The question now turned to how the military, Egypt's most powerful institution, will handle the transition in power. Earlier in the day, the Armed Forces Supreme Council — a body of top generals — vowed to guide the country to greater democracy.
In a statement hours before Suleiman's announcement, it said it was committed "to sponsor the legitimate demands of the people and endeavorfor their implementation within a defined timetable ... until achieving a peaceful transition all through a democratic society aspired by the people."
Abdel-Rahman Samir, one of the youth organizers of the protests, said the protest movement would now open negotiations with the military over democratic reform but vowed protests would continue to ensure change is carried out.
"We still don't have any guarantees yet — if we end the whole situation now the it's like we haven't done anything," he said. "So we need to keep sitting in Tahrir until we get all our demands."
But, he added, "I feel fantastic. .... I feel like we have worked so hard, we planted a seed for a yera and a half and now we are now finally sowing the fruits."
9 comments:
All this article is about is just what the people think about their former president resighning.other then that there is no real in depth story. Also it presents a issue that the military leaders will have to face. Who will be in charge of that country to replace their former presiden.
The situation in Egypt over the past few weeks has reached the goal many Egyptians wanted to achieve in the short run. With the long time president out of power, major reforms to the government can begin to take place and the people can have a government that is run by the people that they have long desired. As long as the steps accomplished over the next few months make Egypt into a strong democracy, I think the nation will become one of the most successful in the region. If Egypt begins to go into chaos I would think a group of nations should help the Egyptian people keep order through peacekeeping forces. This nation, while being the same, has experienced a new revolution and with the right people in charge should be able to become a strong nation.
I think it is great that this movement has succeeded in ousting their autocratic ruler. The celebration of democracy does not always meet with such joy, and I have great hope for what Egypt might become. The most crucial step now is to ensure that the military does pass the power to the people with another free election. To this end, I do believe it is vital for the protesters to stay committed inside the square. Hopefully this one instance of tyranny overthrown might catch on and help to solve other problems plaguing that area of the country. There is undoubtedly more bloodshed to come, but I do believe it will be worth it in the end.
I am glad to see that Democracy is taking place in Egypt. I am happy for the people of Egypt. This needed to happen and its about time it did. For once the military actually sided with the people of Egypt, showing that they too were fed up with Mubarak's regime. After weeks of non violent protesting the people got what they deserved, freedom. This shows that the government should be the voice of the people and the people have spoken clearly. People should not be afraid of their government, the government should be afraid of the people.
Finally! I'm so relieved thats there's prodemocracy in Egypt right now, and I'm still hoping they keep strong through these times as anything can happen at this moment. I'm positive The Armed Forces Supreme Council will do justice to Egypt!
This is a superb example of popular sovereignty. The people were able to see their will begin to take affect despite their leader's conflicting view. The Egyptian people will undoubtedly benifit from a democratic form of government. This is something that the Egyptian people can truly be proud of.
This is no doubt a joyous occasion for the people of Egypt, but I am curious to see how this situation plays out. I do not know if handing over power of a long oppressive government into the hands of the military is a prudent decision. I fear the military generals might attempt to take complete control of the government, and the protests for a democratic government will have been for nothing. I am also interested in what changes must be made to the constitution of Egypt in order to accommodate the changes that the people so vehemently protested for. I doubt the Egyptian Constitution in its current form even allow a military council composed of generals to run the country. I hope that Egypt and her people will prove history wrong and be able to make it through this very volatile time, but as history has shown revolutions are, by nature, a violent process in which a country cannot escaped unscathed.
This is the first really good thing to happen to egypt since those pyramids. I think this whole thing goes to show protesting can go a long way. Especially if you have lots of awesome signs made and yell very loudly. But I'm really glad this has finally happened, because it's obviously what the people wanted.
It is nice to see that the riots and protests have had their lasting effect. However, only half the battle is over in Egypt because they have yet to secure democracy. While, it is looking like it will be a quick fix with negotiations, the situation could easily go the other way again. I am glad that the Egyptian population was able to band together under the banner of democracy in order to secure a better future for themselves, and i am quite amazed they held the resolve as they did.I am confident that the necessary changes will occur, it is only a matter of when now.
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