إيكونوميست: العرب يحسدون مصر على ثورتهم لأنها لا تزال قوية وسلمية

إيكونوميست: العرب يحسدون مصر على ثورتهم لأنها لا تزال قوية وسلمية

أكدت مجلة ''إيكونوميست'' البريطانية أنه رغم انزلاق وتعثر عدد من الثورات في الشرق الأوسط إلى حرب أهلية، فإن الثورة المصرية لاتزال قوية وسلمية من الداخل.

وأضافت المجلة، في تقرير نشرته في عددها الأسبوعي - الجمعة، أن قرار حبس الرئيس السابق حسنى مبارك ونجليه يعتبر ''اذلالاً لم يسبق له مثيل في العالم العربي'' لذلك فإن العرب يكتفون بنظرة الحسد إلى مصر.

وأوضحت المجلة أن المجلس الأعلى للقوات المسلحة حافظ على الاحترام تجاه الرئيس السابق حسنى مبارك نظراً لخدمته كقائد عام عسكري لمدة 3 عقود، لكن الضغط الشعبي من الجمهور لم يهدأ حتى بدأت التحقيقات معه.

ورأت المجلة أن محاكمة مبارك قد تزعج بعض المصريين الذين يودون رؤية تراثه وهيبة منصبه ''محفوظة ومصانة''، لكنه أحيا الثوار من جديد وجعلهم يطالبون بالقصاص من نظامه بسبب أوجه القصور في حكمه على مدى 30 عاماً.

وقالت المجلة إن مسار مصر بعد الثورة لم يكن ''سلساً، وربما يكون متخبطاً'' لشهور مقبلة، فالسياسة لاتزال مجزأة ومحفوفة بالمخاوف والشكوك، فضلاً عن كثرة المخاوف من استيلاء الإسلاميين على السلطة أو العودة إلى الحكم الاستبدادي.

وعن الاقتصاد، قالت المجلة إنه لايزال ''يكافح للتعافي من تراجع الاستثمارات وانخفاض الدخل من السياحة، وفئة العمال تطالب برفع الأجور، إلا أنها أكدت أن الوضع العام في مصر لايزال مزدهراً أو نشطاً''.

وتابعت: ''كانت هناك دلائل على المسافة المتنامية بين الجمهور والجيش، إلا أن قرار محاكمة الرئيس السابق وعائلته جاء في الوقت المناسب كي يكون دليلاً على أن الجيش لايزال يستجيب لوجهات نظر الشارع''.

واعتبرت المجلة أن الجيش فاز بالثناء من الشعب لرفضه إنقاذ نظام مبارك والسماح له بالخروج من منصبه والبدء في استعادة النظام بعد اضطرابات الثورة، مضيفة أن استفتاء التعديلات الدستورية كان اختبارهم الأول في الديمقراطية الحقيقية، لتعديل ثماني مواد من الدستور.

Egypt's revolution
Staggering in the right direction
Ex-president Hosni Mubarak and his sons are detained
SEVERAL other would-be revolutions in the Middle East have stalled or descended into civil war. But the biggest so far, in Egypt, is still going strong and also remains mostly peaceful. On April 13th Egyptian police detained the country’s former president, Hosni Mubarak, as well as his two sons. The Mubaraks face a possible trial on charges of corruption and abuse of power, a humiliation unprecedented for a former leader not only in Egypt, but across the wider Arab world.

Toppled in February after weeks of mounting protests, Mr Mubarak had spent the past two months confined to a cliff-top villa in the beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The generals running Egypt during what they promise will be a swift transition to democracy have backed calls for the prosecution of former regime figureheads. Yet they had appeared reluctant to land the biggest fish of all. They shielded Mr Mubarak out of respect for his three decades of service as their commander-in-chief. But pressure from the public proved unrelenting.

After massive protests on April 8th, including a threatened renewal of the sit-ins at Tahrir Square in the heart of Cairo, state prosecutors hauled in the 82-year-old former president and his two sons. The Mubaraks stand accused of amassing illegal wealth, and of responsibility for brutal police tactics blamed for the deaths of more than 800 protesters in January.


Alaa and Gamal Mubarak were remanded in preventive custody, joining a growing roster of imprisoned former officials that includes a prime minister, several ex-cabinet members and leaders of the ousted ruling party. The former president himself has been transferred to hospital, amid rumours that he has suffered a mild heart attack.

The arrest and pending trial of Mr Mubarak will disturb some in Egypt who would prefer to see his legacy and the prestige of his position preserved. But it has brought relief to revolutionary hotheads, who are demanding retribution for the failings of his 30-year rule, as well as to those who believe the often wildly exaggerated tales of a vast fortune that the Mubaraks are said to have salted away.

There have also been signs of a growing distance between the public and the army. Symbolic as it may be, the prosecution of the former president and his family comes as timely proof that Egypt’s army, which has often appeared to be aloof and insensitive, remains broadly responsive to the views of the street.

Egypt’s army won praise for refusing to save Mr Mubarak’s regime, for gently easing him out of office and for helping to restore order after the revolution’s early tumult. But the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, comprising 18 top generals headed by Field-Marshal Muhammad Hussein Tantawi, who served for 20 years as Mr Mubarak’s defence minister, has proved a somewhat erratic ruling body.

In March the generals invited Egyptians to vote in a referendum, heralded as their first taste of real democracy, to amend eight articles of Egypt’s constitution. Having won a yes vote, they then abruptly issued a decree imposing an abbreviated, temporary constitution comprising 55 additional articles, intended to outline the shape of Egypt’s state until a new constitution is drafted, following a parliamentary election in September. The decree aroused only muted controversy, yet it called into question the point of holding a referendum in the first place.

Despite efforts at dialogue with the disparate political groups that led Egypt’s revolution, the army has often appeared reluctant to move except to stave off renewed protests. A purge of former officials, including provincial governors, newspaper editors and university presidents appointed by Mr Mubarak, has been halting and remains incomplete.

Use the interactive "Graphics Carousel" to browse our coverage of unrest in the Middle East.The army’s attempts to impose order on Egypt’s streets have been marred by occasional brutality, including torture, and were tarnished further by official denials in spite of abundant evidence. In a typical response during a television interview, one member of the supreme council enthused that, in the new Egypt, freedom of expression is guaranteed “so long as it is respectful and doesn’t question the armed forces”. This may explain why a military tribunal has sentenced Maikel Nabil, a 26-year-old blogger, to three years in prison for detailing alleged abuses by the army.

Egypt’s post-revolutionary trajectory has not been smooth, and it will probably be bumpy for months to come. Politics remains fragmented and fraught with fears and suspicions. Talk abounds of an Islamist takeover or a relapse into authoritarian rule. The country’s economy is struggling to recover from slumping investment and reduced income from tourism, even as workers demand higher wages. Yet Egypt’s overall mood remains buoyant. In an online poll taken by Egypt’s most popular political website, after news of Mr Mubarak’s arrest, barely 5% of respondents said they doubted the present government’s will or ability to achieve the goals of the revolution. Three-quarters said they were cautiously optimistic. Arabs elsewhere in the region can only look on in envy.