People Power in the Nile

I’m a fan of Al Jazeera English so most of my news source would come from this channel. I also from time to time watch BBC World News and France 24 but I would never watch CNN for known reasons that they’re biased towards their country and everything the West stands for. One time Ayman Moheldeen was reporting at the Tahrir Square (Liberation Square) in Cairo when suddenly a man from behind (him) started shouting that ‘No More Eid Mubarak’. At first I was about to laugh but suddenly I realized the enormity of the anger the Egyptian people towards their president, Hosni Mubarak that they wouldn’t want allow others to use Eid Mubarak as a greeting.

People Power in the Arab world by now becomes a trend after the Tunisians drove their president away. The Tunisians gain the respect and admiration from the Arabs World that Egypt and Yemen want to imitate them. In the case of Egypt, I think that it’s about time for Hosni Mubarak to go. He himself admitted that he’s tired and fed up and would really want to leave the office but fears chaos if he leaves abruptly. I believe that he really wants to leave but then, American doesn’t want him to. The US wants status quo and fears that the new Egyptian leadership may not be very friendly to them. They also fear that the balance of power in the Arab world will be altered once Mubarak is deposed.

People Power which eventually installs a revolutionary government would not work unless it’s followed by genuine reforms. In the Philippines, we had two People Power revolutions yet we’re still a failed state. We just got rid of the corrupt regime and replace it with the same people, in terms of their greediness level at least. The current also do the ill doings of their predecessors that it becomes a cycle. I think that was the reason why another call for People Power during the term of the then President GMA did not work out. People got fed up because it’s the psyche and system that should be changed first. Tunisia should learn from us and they should fare better than us. If Mubarak is ousted today, they also learn the lessons of the ills of People Power.

The question that the Arabs should ask now is what’s next after people power? Will they be able to muster enough support to persecute Mubarak, his family, et.al? Will Tunisians be able to recover the billions worth of gold smuggled out of the country by Bin Ali’s first lady? You see, it should not only be about people gathering and protesting. Every People Power should have a closure for the country to move forward. God Bless Egypt! God Bless Tunisia! God bless the Arab people.