The Arabian Phoenix

A corrupt, dictatorship government grapples countries towards poverty, unemployment, bad governance, government brutality, oppression , lack of resources like food, milk & water and education, which would in fact cause political unrests, protests, curfews and these are the factors which hamper, the so-called  basic fundamentals required for any country to prosperous and survive with peace and happiness. This is what is happening in the Arab World where people want to move from a dictatorship regime to a democratic one.  This has made the Arab world erupt and spread like virus, like never before to a signalling change of the magnitude not seen since the Islamic Revolution in Iran of 1979.  The youth in the countries like Tunisia, Egypt and few others in line want to see a radical change in the governance of their countries which is making them being pro-democratic because they have seen, understood and analysed the way the democratic models help countries rapidly flourish. Egypt, a country which has got more than 50% of the population between the ages of 20 to 35 years, is a potential sign for the country to prosper by emerging from the ashes like the Arabian phoenix.

The protest was held on the 25th of January and on the 28th which the Egyptians call the “The Angry Friday”. After two days of protest at the Cairo’s Tahrir Square, there has been enough evidence to show the 30 year old regime of the President Mr. Hosni Mubarak, where peaceful pro-democratic protestors were brutally attacked by the 50,000 odd pro Hosni Mubarak supporters with knives and rods, because the protesters have refused to call off the protests by entrenching themselves at the Tahrir Square, Cairo saying “They will continue demonstrating until he leaves”. The protestors included some of the Egyptian finest minds- filmmakers, intellectuals, young tech-savvy diehards who want social, democratic and economic reforms. The violent turn has caused at least five deaths in addition to the 300 that the United Nations estimates have already occurred across the country and more than 1,500 people are believed to have been injured since the mass protests started nine days ago.

Egyptian President’s vague ideas to implement political and economic reforms and his specific moves to appoint the Vice-president and the Interior Ministry by a retired general who were no more  than a smokescreen. It is believed that when President Ben Ali was ousted from Tunisia he made off with around £2bn dollars in personal wealth creamed off his country which includes one ton of gold. It's impossible to know precise numbers but analysts believe Hosni Mubarak has amassed a personal wealth of up to ten billion dollars - a conservative estimate even would be two billion dollars. He has houses across the world from London to Bahrain. His assets in London alone are thought to be worth around fifty million pounds. It is impossible to know for sure at this stage whether or not Mubarak will survive until September. He has said he will "die on Egyptian soil". At 82-years of age, it is clear he does not want to leave the country.

If we look at the other side of the coin, because the turmoil in Cairo will have dramatic effect on the oil prices, even though Egypt produces no oil, but 2 % of the global oil passes through the Suez Canal and 8 % of the global trading happens through this same canal. Egypt is already suffering with the loss of tourism – a huge earner for its people. The major concern is that the possibility of revolution could spread across the Arab world – and particularly North Africa – to other resource-rich nations such as Algeria, which has natural gas, Libya, which has oil, and even the Gulf states. A fundamentalist regime in Cairo would also threaten peace in the Middle East – and the prospect of conflict and instability always threatens oil prices.

Egypt is of vital importance for U.S and the Western World because of its influence in the Arab World. Even in this crises situation, it so disappointing to say that the U.S, Western countries and Israel try to show their might and try to interfere by establishing links with Muslim brotherhood because they need someone in power in Egypt with whom they can do business with, unfortunately President Hosni Mubarak is a Yesterday’s Man and so the Muslim Brotherhood which have a very different agenda.  If the Egyptians secure social, democratic and economic reforms, then it will be a better place to live in, which would bring greater freedom for public gatherings and freedom of speech. Democratic reform would give an opportunity for free and fair elections. This also depends upon who comes to power. Relatively, Egypt is one of the countries in the Arab World doing better but people still face high food prices and unemployment.